On the thought of Jean-Luc Marion on Icon and its aesthetic inspiration

The debate on icon and idol is important in the history of Christian thought. The approach of Jean-Luc Marion to this question is innovative. He emphasizes the relation between icon and the cross, thus defining icon as a type rather than an imitation. He argued that icons are "the kenosis of the image", which transfers the veneration to God rather than owns it by itself. For Marion, this "kenosis" is based on the charity of the Trinity. Furthermore, he indicated the relations among Iconoclasm, Metaphysics and contemporary Idolatry. He also proposes his anti-iconoclasm in this context. As a result of his philosophical purpose, his thought on icon becomes more and more abstract and conceptual, which ignores the aesthetic meaning of the icon. At the same time, his thought on icon paradoxically provides a possibility to rethink aesthetics beyond the aesthetic framework of the Renaissance. In this way, this iconic aesthetics could also respond to the current artistic and aesthetic situation.