St Maximus the Greek: On Pietas and the Vision of Pope Gregory the Great

This study examines the complex relationship between Eastern Orthodox and Western Roman Christian approaches to iconography through an unconventional textual source from the Renaissance period. The impetus for this study is a text by St. Maximus the Greek, a learned Athonite monk who, in the mid-16th century, reflected on the meaning of the iconographic term pietas. Through his personal exegesis, he facilitated a new reflection on the motif of pietas, which, in his interpretation – relating it to the liturgical vision of Pope Gregory the Great – appears as enigmatically defined and, in this instance, directly connected to the iconography of the Son of God. By distinctly diverging from conventionnaly established concepts in the fields of culture and art history, he has prompted a more profound examination of questions and foundational problems of Christian iconography. Using an interdisciplinary method based on philological, literary, and theological analysis, this research reconstructs the historical and political conditions that shaped different art-historical receptions. Through tracing the development of the “language of images,” the article clarifies the distinct Eastern and Western cultural-theological traditions that informed differing perceptions of Christian visual art.