Knowledge Circlethe series of talks directed by the lawyer and writer María Jesús Jabato and organized by the Círculo Católico, concludes its 2023 edition with the professor José Matesanz del Barrio and his presentation ‘The Angels, celestial messengers of eternal light’.
Matesanz’s conference will deal with the world of angels “from the origin of these immaterial beings, see what value they have, what functions they have, who they are within the celestial hierarchy…», points out the historian. «We will also talk about how man has reflected them within the artistic image and the literary image, as well as the symbolism that angels have in today’s world,” he indicates.
“Not only do they have a value in the Judeo-Christian worldwhere they are cited in both the Old and New Testaments, but in other religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism… There is a common substrate of bond between the human being and the god through a series of characters who are mediators, such as the angels,” says Matesanz.
One of the signs that have always characterized angels is light, «They are luminous beings if we understand that that light is represented by God“, they imbibe that light and spread it within their intervention and appearance.”
angelology It is a discipline that studies the angelic world since ancient times. A series of studies that reflect on him are preserved from the 5th and 6th centuries. «Neoplatonism It also raises a series of concepts that end up being expressed in several works, the best known being ‘De Coelesti Hierarchia (On the Celestial Hierarchy)’ by the Byzantine theologian and philosopher. Pseudo Dionysius the Areopagite. In this book he makes a configuration of the celestial hierarchy, which will later be reflected in the ‘Summa Theologica’ of Saint Thomas Aquinasone of the great defenders of the presence of angels in the world,” says Matesanz.
The talk has an important iconographic support, given the large volume of artistic works that represent angels. «If we say that angels are incorporeal beings, why have some models been determined? Because a formula of a representation that is accepted has been soughtwith a human figure and special considerations, and that the fathers of the Church say that although they are incorporeal beings, they must be made visible,” the historian emphasizes and notes that throughout history these representations, almost always male, have generated much debate within the Church.
José Matesanz del Barrio is doctor in Art History, associate professor at the University of Burgos and technical advisor teacher at the Provincial Directorate of Education of Burgos. He is a member of the Royal Burgense Academy of History and Fine Arts. Fernán González Institution as a full academician. He has written numerous books and articles and has curated several exhibitions and displays on Burgos art.
2023-11-28 13:30:55
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