Abstract:
The Council of Florence (1439), where representatives of Byzantine elites encountered Latin world, might be discussed: however, the event brought unique impulses to the art history. As a theatrologist, I will draw my attention to the spectacular phenomena designed to overcome linguistic limits of the spectators by transforming the conciliar debate into theatre imagery. Performances formed a cultural dialogue between Byzantines and West and, being based on the iconography common for both sides, they tried to reach agreement by non-verbal means. While the western theatre was an exceptional experience for the Russian participants, one of them (Avram of Susdal) noted the seen, and his text - via manuscript copies - inspired a line of the future theatre development. The quality of the performances echoes in the realm of visual arts, stimulating the reflection about mise-en-scenes, scenic elements, costumes and locations. My aim is to reflect the 15th century sources and reconstruct the Florentine performances.
Principal investigator: PhDr. Anna Hlaváčová, CSc. (an individual research project)