Some Traits of Ekphrasis Interweaving with Hierotopy in Theodore Metochites’ Monastery Descriptions
Journal: Античная древность и средние века
Year: 2022

The article addresses Theodore Metochites’ assessment of the phenomenon of monastery and monastic life (mostly according to Chapter 40 of his Sententious Notes) in juxtaposition with his predecessors in the ekphrastic genre, such as Michael the Rhetor. The descriptions in question and the “conceptual portrait” of the monastic institution(s) and of the monk as an ascetic draw on a centuries-long Late Antique Jewish and, later on, Christian tradition of conceptualizing Temple, firstly that of Solo