Byzantine Iconography

Byzantine Iconography

Below is a research paper I did on Byzantine Iconography.

I would very much appreciate not copying any information prior my approval, I worked extremely hard on this research , and would like to be credited where it is due. Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions or comments, I'll do my best to try to help you. [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Iconography, which is as old as Christianity, has strived throughout the years to expose the viewer to the spiritual world. More than an art object, Icons were never intended for museums. They exist for evangelical purpose. Icons serve as a spiritual medium to convey the awesomeness of the invisible and divine reality, and to inspire the viewer to the awareness of the divine presence.

Outline

         I. Icons: Development of Byzantine Art

               A. Iconoclasm
                    1. What it Was
                    2. How it Was Resolved
               B. The First Icons

          II. An Icon's Production

               A. Compositon Materials
                    1. Frescos & Mosaics
                    2. Carved
                    3. Size
                    4. Painted
               B. Regulations & Style
               C. Iconographer's Job

          III. An Icon's Significance

               A. Meaning of Subject Matter
                    1. What They Provide for Followers
                    2. Why Icons are Holy Relics

BYZANTINE ICONOGRAPHY RESEARCH

FORWARD

Byzantine Icons are often viewed as being simplistic Christian Art. In reality, icons are much more complex than the typical person may think. Icons, such as those of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, the Crucifixion, and the Nativity of Christ all tell a story. When an Iconographer, who is a writer of Icons, produces an Icon, he is actually telling a story. This story's intent is to bring biblical truth into a visual means to give the observer a better understanding of what the icons is trying to teach. Not only is an Icon a "visual aide" to teach Old and New Testament events, but it is also a window unto Heaven. It enables devout worshipers to deeply feel the presence of the Saint in which they are praying to, it brings the incredible sorrow of the Crucifixion into a deep spiritual realm by providing a profund image of a suffering Jesus, or it brings the great joy and happiness that was felt when Jesus Christ was born.

Icon veneration is not a form of idolatry, as some might think, because when one venerates an Icon, he does not venerate the piece of wood, the ornate painting, or the adornments. The subject in which is being represented in the Icon is what is being venerated, spiritually.

For centuries the Icon has been used to help heal the sick, to guide armies into wars, and to head worship services in Churches. Jesus himself was said to have created the very first Icon with the Mandelion of Eddessa, (Read more in "The First Icons.") The Apostle Luke was the first person reported to have painted/written an Icon when he painted an Icon of the Virgin Mary. Iconographers continue that tradition today, writing Icons for Churches and families that have commissioned them. Eastern Orthodox and other Byzantine Rite Churches carry on the millennia old tradition of Icons with the same fervor for them since their early developments. Icons truly are and will always be considered, "WINDOWS INTO HEAVEN."

ICONS: DEVELOPMENT OF BYZANTINE ART

ICONOCLASM: HOW IT EFFECTED ICONS

Among all these observations of the good that icons can bring to the viewer there was an opposition.  This controversy brewed over the depiction of the divine.  In keeping with the teachings of the Old Testament, the depiction of God is forbidden.  Questions soon arose like wildfire:  How should Christ be shown?  Was Christ considered God, and therefore forbidden to be depicted in any way, or was he human?  
     
     This controversy lasted till 692 A.D. when the Church ruled on the dual nature of Christ.  The Church ruled that Jesus Christ was both divine and human.  This ruling reinforced icons as an early Christian staple.  Jesus was permitted to be depicted in human form and not symbolically as a fish or lamb (Rouvelas 103-4).  The popularity and use of icons in services and everyday life grew with phenomenal speed.  This love for icons soon made some question the validity of the icon.  They said icons were worshipped like idols, which is strictly forbidden by the Bible (Rouvelas 104). 
     
     The Iconoclasm (726 A.D.-843 A.D.) strictly prohibited the veneration of holy icons.   During this period, icons had already played an integral role in the early Christian�s life, becoming inseparable from religion and the daily life of the individual (Politis 8).  The Byzantine Empire was now split between two separate groups.  The Iconodules, who were those who supported the veneration of icons, had tried to fight the opposition.  Those of the opposition were known as Iconoclasts, image breakers or better known as those of whom opposed the use of icons (Morgan 50).  
     
     The iconoclasts were also influenced by the way of Islamic thinking which forbade the depiction of divinity in any form.  Many icons and ancient Byzantine works were lost or destroyed.  There is so much that we have never even seen, that we will never know what iconography was lost due to destruction by opposition groups.   The systematic policies of destruction had almost completely wiped out all evidence of early Byzantine Christian art (Morgan 8).

ICONOCLASM: HOW IT WAS RESOLVED

THE FIRST ICONS

The first icons created were called �acheiropoietoi� or  icons not made by human hands.  The most famous example is the Mandelion of Edessa, Christ wiped his face with a towel and the towel retains his image (Daniels 21).  In the tradition of the Orthodox Church, Saint Luke was said to have painted the first icon.  In fact there is even an icon painted of Saint Luke painting another icon of the Virgin Mary.  
     
     The Byzantine style of iconography was adopted throughout the Christian world.  This style has its roots in the wax-painted grave masks of later Pharaonic Egypt.  Saint Catherine�s Monastery in the Sinai Desert in Egypt has some of the oldest icons in the world.  Ironically, it was the Islamic invasion into the region that protected these icons from the iconoclasts of the Byzantine Empire.  Early Christian icons have also been found in catacombs from the 2nd and 3rd centuries that survived the iconoclasm (Morgan 49).
     
     Stylistically, icons reflect a fusion of Classical Greek, Hellenistic, Egyptian, and Syrian Art (Charles 124).  With the fall of Constantinople in 1453, regional styles gained prominence with the rise of centers of Orthodoxy in Crete, Cyprus, Mount Athos in Greece, Russia, and all across the Balkans.  Today�s icons are of the iconographic form that had flourished under the rule of Justinian the Great, 527-565 A.D. (Rouvelas 106).
     
     Twentieth Century Iconography took a dramatic turn back toward the strict religious Byzantine Tradition led by Photios Kontoglou in Greece and Leoned Ouspensky; a Russian in Paris.  This revival was much welcomed in the United States as well.  Kontoglou had returned the original intent of the Church Fathers and established strict rules and standards for Iconographers, icon painters (Rouvelas 106).  
     
     An Iconostasis is a family altar that is the physical center of the church of the home.  This concept of the Church of the home or �katikon ekklisia,� is an old Orthodox Tradition.  The name, given by Saint Paul in the 1st Century, refers to the gathering of Christians in a private home during the period in history when church buildings were non-existent.  Today this spiritual atmosphere is created by a positive Christian way of living and respect for many traditions.  An Iconostasis contains Icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary, a family Patron Saint, other venerated Saints, a Crucifix, a Prayer book or Bible, Holy Water and Holy Oil, Palm Crosses from Palm Sunday services,  flowers from special services, a red dyed Easter Egg, a censer or �thimiato,� and a candle or �kandili.�   A kandili is symbolically the light of Jesus that is constantly in the home (Rouvelas 113-4).    
     Icons deliberately play down the carnal and elevate the soul, they are not to evoke secular emotions, they are a history of salvation in pictorial form, and include clear symbols and written words (Charles 123).   Icons transmit the teachings of the Orthodox faith to the viewer.  An outsider can plainly see the great spirituality of the Orthodox faith Bourantas 25).

AN ICON'S PRODUCTION

An icon can be produced in any variety of media including frescoes, mosaics, eggs, elaborate frames with enamel, pearls and precious stones, lacquer boxes, and moveable paintings on wood and canvas.  Paints used are more commonly oil and acrylic, but egg tempera can also be used.  Mosaics are traditional as in the Byzantine mosaic tradition like that of Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople (Rouvelas 104-5).  Ivory and marble carvings, coins, manuscripts, and textiles are used as well, albeit more rare (Politis 8).  
     
     An icon must be two-dimensional in order to avoid realism and idolatry.  Stained glass windows are found in some Orthodox churches but are not traditional.  Silver can be pounded in the form of an icon, usually covering the entire icon except the head and the hands (Rouvelas 105).  Twenty-two or twenty-four karat gold is applied in multiple squares around the painting and on the aura�s of the saints pictured (Bourantas 25).  Large double sided icons were created to be carried in processions; portable icons for personal worship, placed in small chapels or specific areas throughout the home are also utilized (Politis 8).

REGULATION AND STYLE

Characteristics give icons their unique and mystical look.  Subjects appear flat and have exaggerated features, such as large almond shaped eyes to reveal the soul and high foreheads to emphasize the spirit.  This unrealistic look of icons reveals the divine and spiritual nature the saints received (Rouvelas 105).  
     
     An Icon is a piece of art, but not secular, not in impressionism, expressionism, or realism.  It is a fundamentally different from a piece of modern religious art.  Perspective, size, shape, and positioning do not apply to icons, people are never depicted in profile, a three quarter view is permissible, but both eyes must always be visible (Charles 125).  Charles says, �An Icon is holding a silent spiritual communication with the observer (125).�
     
     It is very different in the icon world: folds in clothing are intended not so much to follow contours of the body, but to emphasize the incorporeal and spiritual nature of the subject.  Parallel lines go into the distance and will widen instead of converging.  An icon is communicating the transcendence of another world perfect, yet different from this world (Charles 125).  There are strict, formal rules for composition with fixed patterns in a repetitive design and the craftsmanship must be exact.  Oral traditions, descriptions in scripture, Church writings, canons and several manuals prescribe how icons should appear.  Depiction of Saints generally appear in a certain way, as in the Virgin Mary with Christ Child, Mary Magdalene with a red Easter Egg and myrrh bottle, placement of the figures of the Nativity of Christ (Rouvelas 105-6).  
     
     Specific colors must be used in icon production like the Virgin Mary must always wear royal purple robes.  Royal purple is the color of emperors and kings and hence she must always be painted in that specific color.  Specific color is not only applied to the Virgin Mary�s clothing but to many other Saints� clothing as well (Morgan 49-50).  The color gold is used, for the primary background color most times, to represent the divine light of God�s world (Rouvelas 105).  Specific hand gestures are applied, in a more common case, as to Jesus Christ; he is always pictured with a specific hand gesture (Morgan 49-50).  
     
     A Saint�s name or initials are seen in the upper corners of the icon to tell who the observers are viewing in the icon.  For instance, the Icon of Christ is always shown with �IC� (Jesus) in the upper left hand corner and �XC� (Christ) in the upper left.  Or, a certain biblical event may be happening in the icon, such as the Nativity of Christ, at which time, a brief title of the event may be placed at the top part of the icon (Rouvelas 105-6).
     
     Even with all the restrictions on iconography, there is some room for the painter�s own style although not much.  Each painter has his/her own hand and their own skill can be seen.  Skill just isn�t depicting, but conveying the worshiper to the other world.  The iconographer is supposed to try to create a mood and elevate the worshiper is when the talent counts (Daniels 27).

ICONOGRAPHER'S JOB

Iconographers translate revealed scripture and divine truths into visual images.  It is said an Iconographer writes an icon and does not paint one.  Since each icon tells a story, the viewer gets a chance to read and learn from it.  Brushes, paints, and the rest of the materials used to create the icon are consecrated.  Ideally the Iconographer should be a pious individual.  They should be trained by Holy Fathers, like monks or nuns, but that is not essential to being an iconographer.   Most Iconographers live outside monasteries today.  The sacred act of iconography has become just a bit commercialized in a way.  Iconographers should, during their work, pray, fast, and avoid worldly excitement.  Individual interpretation should be kept to a minimum; the task of the iconographer is to pass on the tradition by replicating previous icons (Rouvelas 104).  Like a scribe copying the text of the Bible, the subject should not be changed, just as the text of the Bible shall not be changed(Charles 125-26).  The icon should remain anonymous, but, if signed should be inscribed with the words, �By the hand of [name]�  (Rouvelas 104).

AN ICON'S SIGNIFICANCE

Icons, no matter what the depiction, are to create a window into heaven.  The icon conveys a spiritual truth.  For example, in Western religious paintings martyrs are popular but often depicted being speared or murdered in a violent way.  The point of those types of  paintings is to show how the martyr died.  It is rare to find that type of depiction in an icon.   The icon conveys through symbolism that you are looking at a martyr or a soldier of the Church, who was willing to die for their beliefs.  It is not important how the person died, but why that person died.  In the icon, this martyr could be pictured holding a cross, symbolizing they died for the Christian faith.  The entire background of the icon is usually gilded in gold leaf, conveying that the being is in paradise, or in the divine light (Charles 123-4).  
    
     Those unfamiliar with icons may say that icons are just flat, unsophisticated and primitive.  But, while most art put emphasis on the self, icons utter the truth of the image.  An Icon is striving to express the faith, eternal life, and what the church understands as truth.  Icons are God�s work, he communicates to us through them, they are a metaphorical window into heaven and redemption (Charles 125-6).  The word icon means image, it is an intercessor between earthly and divine realms, subject matter can go from many icons of Christ, from Birth to Resurrection, to the life of the Virgin Mary or Panagia in Greek , the Saints, and scenes of the Old and New Testaments.  Icons even venture into such complex subject matter as the Last Judgment (Daniels 26-7).

WHAT THEY PROVIDE TO FOLLOWERS

WHY ICONS ARE HOLY RELICS

When an icon is venerated, it is not to the icon itself, but to the living Saint in Heaven.  An icon simply helps visualize the saint (Rouvelas 103-7).  The act of kissing icons is not just exaggerated piety; the physical contact with the surface of the image itself is an important tenet of the faith of Orthodox believers.  This act alone lends the image much of its sanctity.  The icon is a holy relic because the faith of the believer transcends, and changes the piece of wood with a painting on it, into a holy relic.  This phenomena is something that has been formed through a long tradition of belief (Morgan 49-50).  
     
     Icons have become an important part of Orthodox Church services including the Feast of the Nativity of Christ and Holy Week services.  They shall always explain the true meanings of the celebration (Bourantas 25).  Icons are a window into the spiritual world, they provide heavenly possibilities to the viewer on Earth, they truly are a model for all to follow (Rouvelas 103).

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