Charis. Studies in christian iconography

This issue of Engramma explores charis – grace, beauty, gift, and salvation – as a key concept for Christian iconography. Drawing on the relationship between ancient and Christian traditions, the editorial presents beauty not as a static quality but as a dynamic, relational force capable of making the invisible visible and engaging the viewer in an active response. Within this framework, Christian art is understood as an “incarnography”: a material and symbolic mediation of the divine, inseparable from liturgy, devotion, cultural memory, and the practices of reception. The issue also reflects on the need to renew iconographic studies in an increasingly secular and visually saturated society, where the ability to read sacred images can no longer be taken for granted. Its essays combine methodological reflections with case studies ranging from medieval manuscripts, mosaics, reliquaries, and frescoes to modern and contemporary art and AI-generated political imagery. The volume concludes with a tribute to Augusto Gentili, whose work exemplifies the historical and contextual depth of Christian iconographic inquiry.