Ralph Dekoninck and Ingrid Falque (eds), Revivals or Survival: Resurgences of the Icon form the 15th Century to the Present Day, Milan, Silvana Editoriale, 2023.
The art of the icon, a visual idiom born in the Eastern Church, has deeply influenced the visual creations of Western Christianity from the Middle Ages onward, despite the adoption of a different aesthetic that was created in opposition to this maniera greca during the Renaissance. Even though artistic modernity was built against this art considered ‘awkward’ (goffa), it did not prevent the ‘Byzantine’ style to come back to surface several times in the West. This volume aims to question the reasons of this survival or these revivals of the art of the icon in distinct Western artistic and religious contexts. It will highlight in particular the issues underlying the meeting, and sometimes the merging, of two visual cultures but also the complex and often conflicting relationships between art and religion .