On the evening of April 2, I attended the #bloggermeeting event of Pera Museum as the invitee of theMagger.. Under the wonderful guidance of the Pera Museum team, we visited the museum’s exhibitions ‘Alberto Giacometti’, which will last until April 26, and ‘Life is Short, Art is Long – Art of Healing in Byzantium’.. I could summarize these two exhibitions together within the scope of the event; but then i said it would be a two part series. Let’s catch it before it’s over, for those who haven’t seen it yet: Life is Short, Art is Long – The Art of Healing in Byzantium
Pilgrim Oil Bottle
‘Life is Short, Art is Long – Art of Healing in Byzantium’, one of the two exhibitions that came to the museum as part of the Pera Museum’s 10-year celebration program, is named after Hippocrates’ famous takes from his aphorism. In the exhibition, we embark on a journey about the art and practice of healing in Byzantium, from the Greco-Roman period to the late Byzantine period.. We are used to seeing collections based on plastic arts in museums; but this time we are together with an exhibition on healing and associated miracles. It’s a little exciting, let me tell you from the beginning.
To the Art of Healing in Byzantium exhibition, the ancient world Healing methods of the Byzantines (faith, magic, rational medicine), healing and miracle centers in Istanbul, doctor saints, whose foundations were formed by the holy healers Apollo and Asclepius, and Hippocrates and Dioscorides, the founders of rational medicine and pharmacology.. The titles, which seem quite abstract to us now, are in the exhibition; we follow through medical and botanical manuscripts, marble carvings, icons, amulets, medical instruments, plant specimens, engravings and archival photographs.
We see the subject of ‘health’, which has always been one of the most important issues for humanity, under three traditional headings in Byzantium; faith, magic and medicine. After all, the exhibition proceeds in the examples of this triangle.. The Art of Healing in Byzantium; An extremely colorful and miraculously appealing exhibition to convey the reflection of Byzantine cultural heritage on religious and rational thought, its impact on contemporary scientific developments and innovations around the Mediterranean, and the role of Byzantium in transferring healing activities to future generations.
We started the tour by examining the topics of faith, magic and medicine. Although it is very difficult to combine scientific and spiritual concepts, it is an experience above all to see the lifestyles, habits and feelings of societies in an exhibition size.. When you see in front of you concretely a few concepts that cannot coexist in your opinion, it becomes a little easier to bring them together, even if only in thought.. In the exhibition, we see the daily rituals of physicians, pharmacists, saints and magicians, who are seen as the pioneers of the art of healing, to protect themselves from diseases and demons.. In the meantime, I would like to remind you that the pioneers accepted that the devils were the first cause of diseases and sought the solution in processes arising from the combination of religious teachings and Hippocratic teachings.
You should go to ‘The Art of Healing in Byzantium’, which surpasses many exhibitions I have seen in terms of sequencing and editing, even just to watch the ‘Miraculous Waters of Constantinople’ video.. In the 3D video where you will watch the waterways carried to the canals in the city, you will see the journey of the water in the city as it disperses from churches to fountains, houses and palaces.. One of the other elements that completes the exhibition with this video is the fact that water, which we describe as healing these days, was also a memory in those days.
Kandil
The last value you will see when finishing ‘The Art of Healing in Byzantium’ is the manuscript containing Hippocrates’ aphorisms.. We witness Hippocrates’ belief in the art of medicine, with the definition of ‘Life is short, art is long, opportunity is fleeting’, which gives the exhibition its name; human life is insufficient to achieve perfection in the art of medicine. But, to see all these up close, be sure to stop by the Pera Museum until April 26.
Healing plants corner
*This article was originally published on theMagger.com.