A guide for scholars and enthusiasts
Byzantine iconography: history, theology and how to read an icon
Iconography literally means «image writing». It is the art, and at the same time the theology, through which the Eastern Church, and with it all of ancient Christianity, made the Mystery visible. This page outlines its essentials for those who wish to study it or simply understand it.
Origins
The oldest surviving icons, painted in encaustic in the 6th century, are kept at Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai: among them the famous Christ Pantocrator. Their roots lie in late antique panel painting and in devotion to the images of the martyrs.
Iconoclasm and the Second Council of Nicaea
Between 726 and 843 the Byzantine empire went through the iconoclast crisis: sacred images were banned and destroyed. The Second Council of Nicaea (787), following the reflection of Saint John of Damascus, reaffirmed their legitimacy: since the Word became flesh, his face can be depicted, and the honour given to the image passes to the Prototype. In 843 the «Triumph of Orthodoxy» ended the controversy, and it is still celebrated on the first Sunday of Lent.
The great masters
- Theophanes the Greek (14th century), who brought great Byzantine painting to Russia.
- Andrei Rublev (14th–15th century), painter of the Trinity icon, now in the Tretyakov Gallery.
- Dionisius (15th–16th century), master of luminosity and elegant proportions.
- The schools of Novgorod, Pskov, Moscow and the Cretan workshops.
How to read an icon
- Inverse perspective: lines converge towards the viewer, not the horizon. The viewer does not enter the image; the image comes to meet the viewer.
- Light without shadows: in an icon light does not come from an outside source, but from within the figures.
- Facial proportions: large eyes, thin nose, small mouth, high forehead. Purified senses, turned towards the spirit.
- Colours and gold: a theological vocabulary (gold, purple, blue, red, white).
- Inscriptions: the written name identifies the subject and makes the image an icon.
Essential bibliography
- Pavel Florensky, «Iconostasis».
- Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir Lossky, «The Meaning of Icons».
- Paul Evdokimov, «The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty».
- Saint John of Damascus, «On the Divine Images».
- Lia Galdiolo, «Le icone. L'amore misericordioso e la donna vestita di sole» (Editrice Ancilla, 1991).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between iconography and iconology?
In art history, iconography studies subjects and their attributes, iconology their cultural meaning. In the world of icons, «iconography» also means the art of painting icons itself.
Why do icons have no shadows?
Because they depict reality transfigured by divine light: there is no outside light source, the light comes from the holiness of the figures.