Publication details
Mediální revoluce - Christianizace Evropy, Ravenna pátého století a jak obrazy mění dějiny
| Title in English | Media Revolution - The Christianization of Europe, Fifth Century Ravenna and How Images Change History |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Monograph |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In 303 AD, Christians in the Mediterranean make up only twenty percent of the population and face an unusually strong wave of persecution. Two hundred and fifty years later, however, de facto the entire population of this vast region has been Christianized. What could have happened? How is it possible that an entire empire was converted in a relatively short period of time? Is the only reason the political decision of Constantine the Great, who legalized Christianity in 313? The book offers a reflection on the visual tools that may have contributed greatly to the fundamental change in European society. Between the fourth and fifth centuries, a new artistic medium spread through Europe - mosaics made primarily of glass. Could it have been one of the means that helped to Christianise Europe? And what was the role of the incredibly impressive Christian rituals that literally touched the bodies of future Christians, uniquely linking body and mind? Using the example of the mid-fifth-century mosaic decoration of the so-called Baptistery of the Orthodox in Ravenna, the authors attempt to understand the dialogue between "shining" images and collective rituals and to understand their role in the transformation of the Western world. |