Mirror, Inspiration, and the Making of Art in Byzantium

The structuring of the Byzantine mystical experience draws on the dynamics of the horizontal mirror - that is, the reflective surface of a lake, which gathers sky and earth - and the process of in-spiriting. Both phenomena appear in two distinct - and, from a modern viewpoint, incompatible - contexts : the Byzantine liturgy and the Late Antique engagement with Anacreontic poetry. What meanings emerge when the call to "forget your earthly worries" of the Cheroubikon sung at the Great Entrance is juxtaposed with the invitation to partake in the halcyon revelry in the Anacreontic? In recognizing that the Byzantine concept of creativity is defined as an act of mirroring and vital in-breathing (in-spriting), can we put it in a productive relationship to the role of the art historian today of breathing-in new life in the shell of antiquity? The analysis here draws on Aby Warburg's unorthodox but compelling ideas about the role of empathy in the production and perception of animation.