Early Christian-Platonism: Introductory Remarks

THE influence of Platonism on the artistic culture of the medieval west remains a subject to which scholars return with renewed interest. Studies by musicologists within the last decade, for example, examine relationships between medieval liturgy and architecture and have opened up new lines of inquiry on how Christian-Platonism was displayed aurally and visually. Nigel Hiscock’s recent scholarship intends to “re-open the enquiry and engage once more in the debate about the symbolic content of medieval geometry and its possible role in medieval plan design.” Hiscock’s study uncovers new evidence for how medieval architects used Platonic teachings in the planning and design of church buildings. Although the “presence and influence” of Platonism are “well enough attested,” Hiscock argues, “insufficient weight seems to be given to it in much of the literature that challenges a Platonic connection with architectural design.”

With few exceptions, studies of Platonism in the medieval west have concentrated primarily on prominent Christian representatives of this tradition, including Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–c. 215), Origen (c. 185–254), Gregory of Nyssa (c. 332–95), Augustine (354–430), Pseudo-Dionysius (c. 500), John Scotus Eriugena (c. 810–77), and the twelfth-century theologians of the Abbey of St.-Victor in Paris, especially Hugh (1096–1141) and Richard (d. 1173). Among these figures, scholars have recognized the chief role of Augustine in the transmission of Platonism to the Christian west. Through his great literary output and extensive readership in western Christendom, Augustine became the primary channel of Platonism to the medieval west; he is also the main figure responsible for securing the acceptance of Christian-Platonism by the medieval Latin Church.