Dionysius of Fourna: 24 cool facts

Dionysius of Fourna (Greek: Διονύσιος ο εκ Φουρνά; c. 1670 – after 1744) was an Eastern Orthodox author of a manual of iconography and painting in the 18th century.

He was born in Fourna, in the Ottoman Empire, and went to psychiatry in Constantinople approaching the age of twelve before returning, as a monk, to Mount Athos. He painted several icons in Mount Athos, although the dates are indistinct (either 1701 or 1711) and at Karyes. In 1721, he painted the chapel of St. Demetrios in Vatopedi. He then returned to stir in Fourna. His last official retrieve into public baby book is in 1741, when he gained permission to Begin a studious at Agrafa.

Dionysius’s Hermeneia (1730–1734) attempts to pay for a synthetic (or “harmonized”) Gospel account of the vibrancy of Jesus Christ. His timeline and endeavors are mainly from the Book of Matthew, but he weaves in major incidents from the new synoptic Gospels. The reference book is furthermore called Mount Athos Painter’s Guide and is in three parts. In general, it is a chronological listing of scenes take over for painting, along with a proper inscription for the painter to intensify to make the icon, as without difficulty as the proper incline in the church for each scene. The first allowance of the sham gives recipes for colors, gesso, and instructions on body proportions for human figure painting. The second ration is a encyclopedia for the moving picture of Christ, descriptions, and inscriptions for various Biblical and hagiographic subjects, and suggested images. The third allocation describes the locations in a church for each depiction. The manuscript survives in beyond twenty-five instances.

It is likely that Dionysius surveyed existing churches from the medieval period, where the vigor of Christ would be told in emblems on the subject of the church. Although the produce a result is not original, nor expected to be original, the checking account of each scene is probably from Dionysius’s own imagination and imagery.