The
Orthodox Understanding of Icons
www.wikipedia
Byzantine icons have become a unique
hallmark of the Orthodox Faith.
You will see them in Churches, cars, roadside shrines, and in Orthodox
Christian homes. They are venerated, kissed, censed, and carried in
processions.
What is
an icon?
An icon is a representation of either a saint or tableaux of saints, Christ
or the Virgin or narrative scenes from the Bible such as Christ’s crucifixion. Icons
are generally flat panel paintings made
of wood, cast in metal, embroidered on cloth, created in mosaic tesserae, or
painted in manuscripts, official documents, and editions of Holy books. An icon
can also be etched or carved in stone or a precious metal. After the 850s, the interiors of Orthodox
Churches in Greece were often completely covered in iconic wall paintings
(sometimes mosaics). When this occurred, the placing of these icons came to
follow a set pattern which developed over time into what is now called the iconic program.
Theophania, www.byzantineartsjournal.org
A Little Background
Iconic representation of the human or saintly figure was not always the
norm. In fact, because of the Bible’s
flat out prohibition of ‘graven
images’ early Christians were as against them as Muslims would later
become. Early Christian churches tended to be faced with marble and any
decoration was floral or animal. (See Early
Christian Churches) In fact, it is
unlikely that Agia Sophia, the beau Ideal of Greek churches had icons at all
when it was first constructed in 537. This ongoing hesitation break the
Commandment is reflected in the Orthodox Church still shying away from three
dimensional representation – too sensual - and, in the early days, too much
like pagan art. In the western branch of the Great Church this guilty angst did
not apply to quite the same degree (1), The bitter icon debate see Iconoclasm) would continue until the issue was settled in favour of icons at the
Council of Constantinople in 842.
From that point on, the two dimensional art
form was not only preserved but an icon theology developed which would set the rules and accepted style in Orthodox art for
over twelve centuries and counting.
What is
depicted in Icons?
Orthodox icons never depict God, but focus on Christ and the stories of his
life and death as told in the New Testament. The honour of
depiction is extended to include the heroic men and women of Church history. For this reason you will find saints, church
fathers, emperors, and empresses depicted, along with the worthies of the Old
Testament who were the precursors of His coming. It might at first come as a
surprise that Greek philosophers like Plato and Aristotle get the nod as well
but considering how Christianity was altered under the influence of Greek
philosophy, it actually makes perfect sense.
How to Read an Icon
Every icon,
then, is a point of encounter with the
Divine, a representation of nature reformed into the first created beauty. As such, icons are a medium of Grace, -
anagogic, leading the believer
upward to God. From an earthly perspective, this iconic world is as good as it
gets.
www.byzantineartsjournal,org
In the
iconic cosmos, perspective is free. Figures are often sized according to their
importance, so a demon might be pint-sized, a theologian big headed, and so
on. Sometimes the perspective is inverse
with lines approaching the viewer, all the better to involve him or her in the
scene. Figures are asexual, even
when partially nude. Clothes do
not always drape naturally, and never suggest sexuality. The Byzantine icon emphasizes holiness. Even
the law of gravity does not apply: figures
hang, in flat two-dimensional space, seemingly weightless.
In the world before the fall and in the
transfigured world of the Christian church, there is no Time. John
the Baptists is depicted holding his own severed head, Christ appears at Mary’s
death bed holding her infant soul in his arms, and scenes of the nativity show
Christ in the manger and being washed
by her hand maidens. Clothes do follow historical patterns although these are
not always what you might expect.
A desert hermit, who starved and died in rags,
may wear a rich cloak, the Archangels dress sometimes like Orthodox priests, sometimes
as soldiers, and bands of angels dress like
Hellenes. Place is skewed as well.
All events take place outdoors, often with buildings in the background. If the
painter wishes to indicate an indoor event, it is done by draping a
curtain-like cloth over the background structures.
The presentation of Mary, www,byzantineartsjournal,org
Corruption
is not depicted. Mary, even on her death bed, is young. Demons (always shown in profile!) may
be dark and shriveled, but never invoke horror; they have no power here. Even
Hell is transformed’ if depicted at all. Martyrs
being tortured may appear disconcertingly bored to someone new to icons and
certainly display no excessive passion. Christ on the cross is not depicted as often
as in the west, but when He is, grotesque suffering is never depicted. This
atmosphere of calm; other-worldliness is
one of the hallmarks of Orthodox iconography, one that distinguishes it from
western art as it developed up to an during the Renaissance.
There are no shadows in this world. Gold
leaf illuminates the background. An icon painter starts each figure with dark
shades and both literally and figuratively adds the light. Faces are centrally
lit and to increase the sense of immediate connection, all faces and figures (except devils) are frontal
or shown at a three quarter angle to form a direct bond with viewer. A
typical face has large eyes (they
have seen the divine), a long nose (only
spiritual fragrances now), small mouths
(now needing only spiritual food) and often
high foreheads (the dominance of contemplation). Hands, if blessing the viewer are large. Everything, it seems,
means something. No detail is too small to escape the all encompassing
symbolism. Even the angels’ hair ribbons have meaning, or came to! (3)
www.byzantineartsjournal.org
Is it
Idol Worship?
Watching
worshippers enter an Orthodox church and kiss the icon, it looks a lot like
idolatry. There is a constant effort on the part of iconodoules (as Icon
supporters are known) to stress the
essential difference between worship and reverence and to define this
difference. A typical argument goes like this:
He has deified our flesh forever, and we
are in very deed sanctified through His Godhead and the union of His flesh with
it." When God is seen clothed in flesh, and conversing with men, I make an
image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter, I worship the God of
matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who
worked out my salvation through matter.
The iconographer’s work was holy and special
prayers were written for icon painters to recite before work began. Because the
icon was a medium of grace it would be difficult to exaggerate the importance
of icons in Orthodoxy.
Miracle Working Icons
Famous miracle working Icons are paraded in the streets on Feast days and even taken from city to city where believers gather to venerate them and pray before them. And icons have a particular quality in that they can transmit grace through the medium of glass or any other covering, - even through the body of the person touching them. This can be seen in parliament when members of parliament take the oath of office administered by the Archbishop. As long as a few members have their hands on the bible, the icon of the faith, the others make do by making sure they touch the shoulder of someone who has touched the shoulder of someone who has touched the Bible. Be that as it may, when a famous icon is displayed in an Athens the lineups can stretch for hundreds of meters, so holding hands and forming a daisy chain with only one person touching the icon is clearly not considered as likely to bring the best results! Parliamentarians take note).
Innumerable sites in Greece boast a miracle working icon. Islands like Tinos and Cephalonia are renowned for theirs and are visited every year by thousands of pilgrims. Pilgrimage tourism is a growing business all over Greece, aided by an influx of Orthodox tourists from the former Soviet Union. But even without that, pilgrimage is alive and well in Greece.
Real or Fake?
Footnotes
(1) This
divergence between western and eastern perspectives is a hard one to follow in
detail, for me at least, but it existed and over time either reflected the
growing division of thought between the eastern and western branches of
Orthodoxy or possibly helped cause them. The issue was settled at a council
called in Constantinople and attended by eastern bishops; already the potential
fault line between east and west was there. When the Roman branch of Orthodoxy broke away
in 1054, it had a profound influence on the development of religious art.
(2) Female
saints always seem to look slightly anorexic
(3) Exactly
when meaning came to be attached to every detail in an icon is perhaps a moot
point, but that it did is not! Hair ribbons that gathered in the angel’s hair
denote the self possession and “totality” of the angelic soul.
From the start, I thought sources are the most sapient creatures on remains, resolves somehow against the way, I observed that they receive the skill of sharp analysis whereas their brainstorming nickname on the hack, thus, arriving to an intriguing portion would be extroverted for them. Their bygone played an critical confinement to it. ta nea
ReplyDelete