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THE ICON
The
word “icon” is usually used for religious paintings done with a particular
technique that, according to an acclesiastic tradition turns them to
“sacramental” that to symbols of Grace. So the icon is not only a work of
art, but a token and a religious expression of the Eastern Christian
civilization and particularly of the Christian-Orthodox Church and of the
Catholic one with Byzantine rite.
The painter of icons wasn't interested in reproducing statically the man and the
nature, but in revealing the Essence that is in the people and in the things.
For
the Orthodox Church the icon is as a window on the Mystery, on the Eternity;
it’s a meeting place. It has the function to consecrate the believer’s Soul
through the prayer and the sight, its placing is the Church or the best corner
inside the house. So it is more than a religious image, it’s true sacred art
that has a well-determined place in Religion and in the private devotion; it’s
an effective way to know God, God’s Mother and the Saints. It’s not only an
art illustrating the Holy Scriptures, it’s a simple and direct expression that
strikes and can show all that regards a Mystery. In painting icons, the artists
must respect severe rules of behavior in order to evoid the heresy and for this
reason they followed the texts approved by the Orthodox Church. Moreover they
were controlled both in their studies and in their private life.
The painters of icon were monks who combined painting, penance and spiritual
ascesis.
The iconographic monk, consecrated by his Bishop and blessed by his Monastery,
to become a painter of icons, spent a month observing a fast and praying before
beginning his work.
He didn't look for a true concept of beauty, but for the Truth that is in the
icon itself.
He looked for the concept of beautiful according to the religious language that
is the artistic representation of the Truth of the things. For this reason the
rules of the iconographic art weren't created by the painters, but preserved and
handed down by the Fathers of the Church.
To reveal this Substance that is hidden in the creation, the iconographic
experts accentuated some aspects, changed the proportions, stylized some
elements according to their human and cultural sensibility, but always following
the original pattern.
On these paintings there aren’t the artists’ signatures of the dates of
execution as the images mustn’t arouse human emotions but let us perceive the
Supernatural Reality even to those who have no specific knowledge but have a
great faith and spiritual thirst: so they have the same purpose. From about 700
to 843 (seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicea) the iconographic art had a long
iconoclastic period during which the icons were confiscated and destroyed
because of the wrong impossibility to porttray humanly the Divinity.
The
iconographic art reached its greatest splendour in Russia during the 14th
century with Andrej Rublëv, who is considered a genuis in the art.
Later, from the 18th
century a process of decadence began for the iconographic art : the icon lost
its religious significance and it became only an artistic object and
consequently more and more sophisticated decorative forms were added.
The
icons took on aspects of the baroque art, they were covered with precious metal
coverings except on faces and hands, altering the meaning and losing the harmony
of the image and the unity of the composition.
After
the Soviet revolution numerous icons were destroyed, the other ones were
considered only for their artistic value and so they lost their true nature that
is contemplation and prayer.