ARCE-DC Washington: Sacred Spectating in Late Antique Egypt: Monastic Painting as Spiritual Experience

Lecture Information

This talk presents the argument that painted monastic prayer spaces supported a Christian ritual that Greek sources called theōria. The ascetic theōria, which stems from earlier cultural and religious models, enabled its practitioners to reach a state of mystical immersion so intense that it generated otherworldly visions. Its main vehicle, prayer, took place in the carefully designed painted environments of private cells and monumental church sanctuaries.

Dr. Agnieszka will highlight the sixth-century CE Red Monastery church sanctuary that offers an exceptionally well-preserved example of theoric spaces from late antique Egypt. At this site, monastic worshipers joined the ranks of sacred spectators depicted on the walls, undertaking a psychic pilgrimage to the heavenly kingdom.

The Red Monastery triconch (sanctuary with three recesses) is a place for theorizing, and a place to learn how to theorize. Thanks to its unique level of preservation—and the recent restoration and conservation sponsored by ARCE—this sacred space allows us to imagine how monastics adapted longstanding Mediterranean spatial traditions to achieve Christian ascetic goals: visions, miracles, contemplation, learning, memory of God, and, ultimately, eternal life.

This presentation is based on the forthcoming book of the same title, published by Cambridge University Press.

For more about ARCE’s conservation project, click here.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Agnieszka E. Szymańska is Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Her research focuses on Christian monastic art and architecture of late antique Egypt.

Dr. Szymańska was a fellow of the American Research Center in Egypt in 2014. In Egypt, she has participated in the Red Monastery Conservation Project, directed by Dr. Elizabeth S. Bolman, and the Yale Monastic Archaeology Project, directed by Dr. Stephen J. Davis. In Cyprus, she has worked as a painted-plaster specialist for Kourion’s Amathous Gate Cemetery project, directed by Dr. Michael Given.

She has received support from the Archaeological Institute of America, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art & Culture, American Council of Learned Societies, American Philosophical Society, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Council of American Overseas Research Centers, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.