The History of Icons

  
   The word Icon in Greek means “image.” The earliest icons can be found in Rome and in St. Catherine's monastery on Mount Sinai. The history of iconography spans through two thousand years. In 395 the Roman Empire split into two, the east and the west. There was no separation in art at that time. The Greek artistic heritage provided the basis for the whole Byzantine culture. While Constantinople was the capital of the empire its artistic ideas, styles and trends passed on to the Byzantine world which included the Mediterranean, Italy and Greece. Byzantium set the expression of artistic language with its strong, precise and spiritual intense images. In that time all Iconographers came through Byzantium. Leading up to and during the sixth century Christian thought progressed and so did its idea of art. Christian religious consciousness determined the direction of Byzantine art and as a consequence peripheral idea was replaced by spiritual idea. When Iconography emerged from a naturalistic style it then developed into a divine image.

   In 843 Icons were victorious after a long brutal judgment period called Iconoclasm. During this period icons were the subject of ideology. Icons were then put on trial with the charge that it is impossible to depict God in human form. The basic Christian principle of Gods incarnation, that he the divine was born in the flesh, visible and seen therefore depictable. This doctrine provided the evidence needed that the veneration of icons was then accepted in the church. It has been celebrated since in a procession that takes place in all Orthodox Churches around the world on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. This day commences the fact that Icons are the principal of Orthodoxy. The Icon is looked upon as the visible idiom of the Orthodox Church. The Icons are a language for the expression of theology that teaches us about the life of Christ, Saints, Feasts days, and Biblical stories. Icons are primarily devotional images they reflect an eternal image. Icons are a fundamental part of the Orthodox Church and its liturgy. They are described as windows to heaven.

   During the fourth crusade, Constantinople was captured, burned and its power dimished. It was then named the Latin Empire. Its artists were then dispersed and many iconographers relocated.

   The icon continued to develop into the Palaeogue Renaissance Era during this 14th century. During this period the artistic climate intensely followed classical works. They quested to imitate the art, music, and form of classical models from the past. They developed allegories, symbols and references to the Old Testament all inserted into a scenic language within the Icon.
 

   Hesychasm blessed silence became apparent after the end of the Palaogue Renaissance. Throughout this time icons became larger in size. The icons sole purpose was to transfigure the image in order to reflect a heaven that is close.

   In 1453 what was left of the Byzantine Empire fell to the Turks. They destroyed the capitol of Byzantium and Christian culture was deeply scared; but the life of the Orthodox Church continued on inside the region.

   In Crete an entire colony formed of painters who were refugees of Byzantium. Iconography was not lost when they formed a guild of artists protected by the Evangelist Luke. The work continued as the Venetians claimed peace. Venetians mastered Gothic style.

   In the 16th century Cretan painters turned to Italian style. Mannerist painting changed the thought of the Byzantine expression of spiritual depiction in art. Although many Iconographers continued to paint in the Byzantine style handed down through the ages. By the 17th century the Greeks were forced out by the Turkish desire to grow into larger plains of the Eastern Mediterranean. Many flee out of Crete to various towns such as the south of Italy. As a result Western influence on Christian art, its demands, taste, and graphics greatly changed the idea of the icon.

   17th to 18th centuries Byzantine canon of iconography was upheld by the monks in Mt Athos. The preservation of the Byzantine approach to iconography was critical to its survival. Wall paintings called frescos were developed in Macedonia and were in great demand. Work manuals were developed by Dionysius.

   In 988 Russia adopted Christianity. Iconography developed over seven centuries. Western influence became prevalent by Peter the Great. During the Mediaeval Russian era it was a country of icons. The most prevalent of iconographers in Russia 14th-15th centuries were Andrei Rublev, Dionysius, and Theophanes the Greek.

   18th-20th century icons were used for adornment. Old icons were lost to classical Baroque influence. Russian painters were now trained in France, Italy and Holland. They were now being trained to paint pictures not icons.

   Old believer icons used a high degree of literacy in their work. They did not retain the clarity of the tradition.

   In the 20th century Icon painter’s fundamental essence was theologically centered. Iconographers were wide spread in Greece, France, Italy, and Russia.

   The threat against the church during that time in Russia resulted in countless icons lost to the policies of the Bolsheviks. Churches and monasteries of Russia were destroyed with much of the church art lost; its icons confiscated, sold and burned. Icon painting did not come to an end entirely. Many icons were preserved and restored. The study of mediaeval Russian art and Byzantine art remain and is flourishing today. Russia has returned to a country of icons once again.

   The language of iconography is based on a canon in Greek which means “rule.” Volumes of artistic grammar are contained inside the Icon. Although the Icon is governed by rule it will not limit artistic abilities. Over the centuries history has provided us with many styles of icons. There are vast amounts of icons providing us with the harmony of the language shown to us by its painter each Icon a work of art in its own right; teaching us about the time it was written. The Icon's purpose throughout the ages is to reveal light to us.