THE ICONS OF CHRIST AND HIS KINGDOM

INTRODUCTION: THE USE OF ICONS IN WORSHIP

As I praying one day, I felt that God wanted me to produce a series of teachings for the Church delving into the symbolism and scriptural basis for the symbolism of the traditional icons of Christ and His Kingdom that are most widely used by the Church. This study will feature twelve icons, explaining the symbolism and theological significance of each. Such a study must include, and indeed be centered on the major Feasts of Christ and events in His life. It is important that we not only observe the various feasts of the church, but that we also begin to understand why we observe them. To pass on to the next generation our traditions of worship and the revelation that God has given us, we must begin to teach why we believe what we believe.  This study will biblically and historically explore the symbols portrayed in iconography with the purpose of teaching people about Holy Scripture and basic theology so that we may have a better understanding of why we hold to the creeds of our faith.

A long time ago, when I was a young college student, I got involved with Campus Crusade for Christ. This organization taught me that God had a plan or destiny for my life. Indeed, I realized that God has a plan or destiny for the lives of all believers. I also came to realize that I had to seek a relationship with God to discover his plan or destiny for my life. Building this kind of relationship laying down what I want and submitting my life to what God wants for me. To fully embrace what God has for me, I must begin to understand and to identify more closely with what God has done for all of us through the Incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. I do this sometimes by meditating on specific aspects of the redemptive process that God created to reconcile us to Himself. I have found that when I am seeking God in prayer, that God often reveals His will or spiritual truth through symbols. I have also found that meditating on icons depicting the various aspects of this redemptive process can help me to gain a better understanding of God’s divine plan, to apply that plan to my own life, and to delve into the biblical and theological basis of the iconic symbolism.

Since others have also come to this same conclusion, icons are often called “windows into heaven”. Like looking through a window, icons give us an intimate glimpse into the theology of the Kingdom of God and His redemptive plan for mankind.

 All of humanity relates to signs and symbols.  On the Fourth of July, hats come off, hands are placed over hearts, and some even shed a tear as the flag of the United States of America passes by.  Why?  It’s just a bit of cloth and dye, isn’t it?  Of course, we know that the answer is much more than that.  The American flag represents a thousand places where blood was shed in the cause of freedom.  Schools and colleges have school mascots and anthems to build tradition and unity; trophies and plaques are presented to represent appreciation or achievement…the list goes on and on!

Symbols and signs communicate.  They do not exist in and of themselves but, rather, symbolize something greater.  Throughout the Old Testament and the New, God communicated by signs and symbols.  Words were not enough.  God wanted his people to see, to visualize, truth as He taught it.  Remember that John the Baptist appropriated signs and symbols when He pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!”

God reveals himself through natural things in the world. We call this general revelation. Special revelation is more specific. Christ being revealed through his incarnation is the ultimate form of special revelation. God has revealed himself in scripture, through His everlasting covenant, and through Jesus Christ. He continues to give insight into previous revelation by the Holy Spirit. Revelation produces our vision of the callings of God and his plans for our lives.

The revelation from God had two purposes. First, revelation was given for immediate direction, as with Abram in Genesis 12:1-3; Lot, Genesis 19:15; Balaam, Numbers 22:22-40; and Peter, Acts 12:7. Second, revelation was given of the moral and spiritual deficiencies of the people of God in light of God's requirements for maintaining a proper relationship with Him and His Kingdom. The vision of prophets such as Isaiah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and John are representative of this aspect of revelation.

One way that we learn about and apply God’s revealed truth is through the signs and symbols associated with traditional Christian worship. Religious symbolism is effective to the degree that it is natural and simple enough to be understood by all people. Symbolism may be defined to be the investing of outward things or actions with an inner meaning. Symbolism is for the expression of religious ideas. In a greater or lesser degree symbolism is essential to all kinds of external worship.

God has often used signs and symbols to reveal His will to people. Consider these signs, given in scripture, have impacted our understanding of God’s redemptive plan.

Most Christians agree that the Bible is the basis of our revelation about the nature of God and His Kingdom and our need to Worship Him. The Bible must be seen as the revealed, inspired, and inerrant Word of God. The Bible contains all things needed for Salvation and knowledge of God. Nevertheless, God illuminates truth through his Word by the Holy Spirit to the Church, and this revelation impacts our theology. Tradition must also play a role in our understanding of the Bible. Historical theology and the traditions of the Church function, both as a check against reading later ideas into a passage, and as a store of knowledge from which to draw possible interpretations.

To properly use tradition in our worship or in our theology, we must go back to the church before there were any divisions. What all Christians have believed and the practiced over the years must be considered in our modern worship.

CHAPTER ONE:

THE ORIGINS OF USING CHRISTIAN ICONS IN WORSHIP

Christian icons are rich in symbolism and can help us with insight into the nature and character of God. Icons help us to better understand God’s redemptive plan and to envision His Holy Word. Furthermore, the use of Icons is an ancient Church tradition that helps us to better appreciate both the reality of the teachings of the Bible and the rich historical heritage that we have as Christians. The first Christians were accustomed to seeing statues of emperors, of pagan gods and heroes, as well as pagan wall paintings. So they made paintings of their religion, and, as soon as they could afford them, statues of their Lord and of their heroes, without the remotest fear or suspicion of idolatry. In a time when people did not have access to the Old Testament scriptures, and a time before there was a New Testament, painted and carved images taught the people about their spiritual heritage. Images were also used to teach Christians about the life of Christ and the lives of the Apostles. Later the lives stories of the martyrs and saints were recorded through Christian art. In this way the heritage of the church was preserved and transmitted.

We take photographs of vacations, family gatherings, and things that we want to remember. We put these into albums and now on our computers so we can look at and relive those events. We also used photographs to trace the development, growth, and maturing of our children and of our own lives. Photos help to identify people, and help us to remember people with whom we have limited or no contact. Police agencies use photos, not only for identification, but to place people in specific places or situations. Likewise, Christian images allow us to identify specific saints, remind us of specific events, and allow us to remember and relive significant events in biblical and Christian history. As we place value on our photographs but do not worship them, so Christian images have value without being worshipped.

Byzantine painting began as the continuation of the Early Christian paintings of the catacombs beginning with the 1st and 2nd centuries, of the first churches of Rome and of the East. Christian Art became heir to the traditions of the ancient art of Greece. Byzantine paintings include the wall paintings, portable icons, mosaics and the painted manuscripts that were produced by the artists of the Greek Empire of Byzantium. Luke the Evangelist was the first recognized Iconographer who painted icons representing the Holy Virgin and the Apostles Peter and Paul. Byzantine Art begins with the emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD and ends with the Iconoclastic Controversy begun by the Emperor Leo the Isaurian in the early 8th century AD. The restoration of the Holy Icons begins in the 9th century AD, and continues until the capture of Constantinople by the Franks in 1204 AD. Architecture, painting, music and poetry cease to be forms of art, each following its own way, independently of the others, in search of appropriate effects and become liturgical and dogmatic. It follows that from its very nature, church art is liturgical art. This is why the image of the Orthodox Church, the icon, does not define itself as an art belonging to one or another historical epoch, nor as the expression of the national peculiarities of one or another people. But only by its function, which is as universal as Orthodoxy itself, being determined by the essence of the image and its role in the Church. Since in its essence the icon, like the word, is a liturgical art. It never served religion but, like the word, has always been and is an integral part of religion. It is one of the instruments for the knowledge of God, and a means of communion with him.

The first Christians understood quite well that images should never be worshipped. On the other hand, the place of honor they give to their symbols and pictures, the care with which they decorate them shows that they treated representations of their most sacred beliefs with reverence. It is from this reverence that the whole tradition of venerating holy images and using them in churches gradually and naturally developed. So while icons are never to be worshipped, they have been used for centuries in worship. Christian icons have been used in worship to remind us of the realities of the Spiritual realm and the importance of the life of Christ in our salvation. Icons teach and picture for us major theological principles. They can help believers develop a better understanding and appreciation of biblical events and people. Images connect us to both biblical events, events in the life of Christ, feasts of the church, and the lives of the saints.

 In both East and West the reverence we pay to images became a part of church tradition. Priests bow to the cross, to the altar, or the image of the crucifix. He also incenses any images of saints that may be near the altar. In the East painted or carved images became called icons. The Byzantine Rite shows if possible even more reverence for the holy icons by arranging them according to a systematic scheme across the screen between the congregation and the altar. This screen of icons is called an iconostasis. An iconostasis is a “picture stand.” These are still used in Eastern Orthodox worship.

Theology of the Icon

The icon is an efficient means for knowing God, the Holy Virgin and the Saints. It's not a work of art that only illustrates the Holy Scriptures. It constitutes a confession of religious truths. Says St. Paul "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God" (Col. 1, 15). Here is possibly another way of saying "something similar, but not identical":
« Christian (Orthodox) iconography expresses in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words. Image and word illuminate each other.
            Father Daniel Rousseau writes "Christian iconography, and foremost the possibility to represent Christ, is based on the fact of the Incarnation (a). Just like the theologian expresses the living Truth in words by means of his thought process, the iconographer expresses the living Truth, the Revelation of the Tradition of the Church by means of his art (b). Consequently, the sacred art of icons cannot be some arbitrary creation of artists.

The use of icons in Christian worship is loosely based upon the idea that "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Gen. 1:27). This is the basis for the Liturgical Churches’ view of humanity. Theologians have supposed that this "image" designates what is most essential to human nature. Many patristic, Catholic, and Protestant orthodox theologians have argued that the image was our ability to think and reason. Sacramental theologians view humans as being created in God's image, and sharing God’s rational nature. The early church fathers believed that the image of God resided in the soul or the spirit of each person. They saw an individual as a spirit being living in a physical body. Therefore, paintings or representations (images) of a person or event can illustrate and represent the spirituality of a person. That spirituality, discovered through looking at the image, can instruct and motivate others to grow in their faith. In this sense, images can take on a kind of spirituality.  Sings, symbols and images make visible the void; they make the invisible visible; they manifest Incarnational reality.

On a more specific level, icons are a form of testimony to the Incarnation of the Word. They bear witness to the redemption of matter in all creation, as declared by the Incarnation. Their themes cannot be changed and the mode of depiction must lead the onlooker to the world of Divine Reality. Icons focus our attention on who Christ is and what He has done for us.

One may ask, why is it important to have something to focus our attention on Divine Reality and on the invisible world? We have a tendency to imagine God in our image, attributing to Him human attributes that fit Him into our life-styles and worldview. We also tend to view biblical events and church history through the glasses of our experiences and worldview. Unfocused, our imagination tends toward reinforcement of what we want and a validation of our life-styles—the kingdom of human reasoning. But if that imagination can be focused, it can enhance our understanding and appreciation of the Kingdom of God. Since icons have specific modes of depiction for Christ and the saints, they do not lend themselves to personal interpretation of biblical and historical events. Instead, we are can visualize people and events in the consensual way that the early Church viewed them. Icons enable us to see the spiritual lessons and spiritual aspects of the lives of the saints and events of the bible free from our personal experiences, values, and expectations. Rather than making Christ in our image, we are able to view Christ in the way that the Church, through centuries of consensus, views Christ.  Then through our imagination we can identify with Christ and the events surrounding His conception, life, passion, and resurrection.

Icon Themes

            The basic theme of the icon is the Holy Portrait, i.e. the portrait of a Holy Person not represented in the corruptible state of the flesh, but in a state revealing his partaking of divine life. The need of the faithful to communicate personally with the sanctified Jesus made the authenticity of His portrait of great importance. The created prototypes of the images of Christ became part of the living Tradition of the Church. The fixation of the type meant that everything temporal was removed so that the transcendental quality of the image could be revealed. But how did the Church determine how image of Christ should look?

No detailed physical descriptions of Jesus are contained in any of the Canonical Gospels. During persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire, Christian art was necessarily furtive and ambiguous. It is possible that some early portraits may have been based on an eyewitness's sketch or reproduced from a tradition of verbal descriptions of Jesus' appearance. On the other hand, artistic depictions of Jesus may have been based originally on imagined ideas of how Jesus looked.

The earliest surviving Christian art comes from the late 3rd and early 4th centuries on the walls of Christian tombs and in the catacombs. Here, and only here, Jesus is portrayed in two different ways: older, bearded and robed and another as a bare faced youth holding a staff. He uses the staff to change water to wine, multiply the bread and fishes, and raise Lazarus from the dead. When pictured healing people, Jesus only lays on His hands. The staff is thought to be a symbol of power. (Only the Apostle Peter is also depicted in the most ancient icons with a staff).

According to one Christian legend, the Image of Edessa, (known to to Orthodox Christians as the Mandylion), was a holy relic consisting of a square or rectangle of cloth upon which a miraculous image of the face of Jesus was imprinted — the first icon ("image"). According to the legend, King Agarus of Edessa wrote to Jesus, asking him to come cure him of an illness. The legend was first recorded in the early 4th century the Church historian Eusibius (E.H. 1.13.5 and .22), who said that he had transcribed and translated the actual letter in the Syriac chancery documents of the king of Edessa. In this earliest account, Christ replies by letter, saying that when he had completed his earthly mission and ascended, he would send a disciple to heal Abgar (and does so). This story has the Apostle Thaddeus coming to Edessa, bearing a cloth featuring Jesus' facial features, by the virtues of which the king was miraculously healed. Another version of the story introduces a court painter among a delegation sent by Abgar to Jesus, who paints a portrait of Jesus to take back to his master. When Hannan, the keeper of the archives, saw Jesus, he took and painted a likeness of Jesus with choice paints, and brought with him to Abgar the king, his master. And when Abgar the king saw the likeness, he received it with great joy, and placed it with great honor in one of his palatial houses. (Doctrine of Addai 13)

Since Jesus was living at the time the Mandylion image was made, it would seem to have no connection with his alleged burial cloth, the Shroud of Turin, which is another source for early images of Christ. Controversy still surrounds the claims made for the Shroud of Turin, which appears in history in 1353. There are also two or three paintings of Jesus and Mary that are ascribed St. Luke the Evangelist, at least one of which is still preserved.

Icons of Holy Theotokos are distinguished by the dignity of her appearance. Her deep red veil, falling over Her head and shoulders, bears three star-crosses, symbols of the Trinity. Mary was God’s instrument for the Incarnation of the Son of God.

The most common type of icon of Mother of God is that of the Hodegetria, named after the most venerated icon in Constantinople, that was found in the Monastery of the Hodegon. It was the palladium of the city, carried in processions and in the battlefield. According to tradition, it was painted by St. Luke and sent to Constantinople from Jerusalem by the Empress Eudocia. It depicted Holy Theotokos holding the Christ Child in her left hand (This can be seen in the following early icons of the Mother of God).

While the Hodegetria shows Her Son, Who is The Way, representing a Christologic doctrine, the Eleousa or Glykophilousa and their variants, stress Mary's maternal side. This maternal nature can be seen in the following set of Theotokos Icons.

Dionysious of Fourna, the famous Greek iconographer and the author of the Painter's Manual, says that he wishes the icon of Theotokos to be reflected incessantly on the mirror of the beholder's soul, to keep that soul pure, to lift those who bend down, and to give them hope, for they contemplate the Eternal Prototype of Beauty. Notice the differences of styles and colors in the following icons of the Virgin. These are from different national churches and traditions. Nevertheless, you will notice that these all follow the conventions set for the icons of the Theotokos. The three stars are present and represent the virginity of Mary before the Annunciation, during the time she carried the Son of God, and after she gave birth to Jesus Christ.

Through the icons of Christ and of His Mother; the Incarnation of Christ is revealed. Christ is portrayed in many ways, often enthroned and frequently revealing both his human and divine natures. He may be portrayed as a King, Priest, Law Giver, Teacher, Pantocrator, or Good Shepherd. He may also be the central figure in many of the Festal Icons. The following selection is of several different Christological Icons.

The great mysteries of the Christian faith were told in the twelve Great Feasts. Their iconography, based on the doctrine of the Church and shaped through Church's Festal Cycle and the Liturgy, was fixed by the tenth century. The mysteries of the Incarnation were re-enacted in the Divine Liturgy of the Church, to which icons ultimately belong. All icons are a reflection of Divine Liturgy and belong to Church. Here is a selection of three Festal Icons.

Iconography seems to have been well established in the Church by the Fourth Century. The great Church historian Eusebius related some earlier accounts of icon veneration.

Many of the earliest surviving icons are found in the Coptic Churches of Egypt.

Both the Holy Tradition of miraculously created icons, and actual examples of the earliest icons that have survived to our times, are kept in the treasury of the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai. These show that the first icons were either portraits or scenes from the Old Testament. Other common themes in early Christian iconography are Jesus as a healer and the Baptism of Jesus.

There was a controversy regarding the use of images, or icons, in worship, which raged in the Eastern Church during the eighth century, and also involved the West. It began in AD 725, when Byzantine Emperor Leo III ordered the destruction of a much-venerated image of Christ. This was followed by other decrees against images. The iconoclasts were destroyers of images. Political and economic interests were involved in this controversy. The iconoclastic emperors sought to exercise more control over the people and the Church by curtailing the power of the monks, who were the main defenders of images.

The iconoclasts (destroyers of images) based their actions on the biblical injunctions against images and also on the criticism of their Moslem neighbors. Political and economic interests were added, which the iconoclastic emperors sought to further by curtailing the power of the monks, who were the main defenders of images. The emperors and civil government preferred to have the trappings of the State and Imperial Monarchy be more visible to the public than the images of the Kingdom of God. The controversy eventually led to persecution of defenders of images in the East, and to the excommunication of the emperor by Pope Gregory II.

            The icons of the Church represented divine intervention in the human situation, and depicted God as the protector and preserver of mankind. This was a role that the Empire sought to portray. When the people looked at religious icons, they thought of God and his works. The Emperors preferred the people to look to the Empire for their sustenance and social support. So it was inevitable that such a conflict would arise. This was yet another humanistic and rebellious challenge to God’s representative authority-- the Church Episcopate. Would it be the Emperors or the Saints; the Empire or the Kingdom of God, to whom the Christians would look to meet their needs?

            The main issue involved in the Iconoclast controversy may have been whether God or the State should be seen as the protector and preserver of mankind and the purveyor of divine authority, but there was a theological issue as well. Was the use of icons a form of idolatry? If the icons are truly being worshipped, the criticism against their use is valid. Only God, the creator of heaven and earth, must be worshipped. But if the images portray the interaction of God’s authority with mankind, and if they represent a continuing incarnation, then their use is valid.

Since the Saints exist as a cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1-2), Icons can be seen as windows or conduits to heaven. If icons point people to God and to God’s representative authority, then they have a legitimate place in the worship of the Church.

            It should be noted that the image (Icon) does not have any power within itself, just as a person does not have power within himself. All power is given from the Father to the Son, and through the Holy Spirit to the Church. Icons, like people, can be vessels through which God can work his will. The providence of God is represented in iconography. Icons should not be worshipped, but they should be honored (venerated) as representing the Kingdom of God. After a prolonged struggle, the church came to this conclusion.

In 787, the seventh ecumenical council gathered at Nicaea. This council upheld the use of images, although distinguishing between the "respect and veneration" due them and the "true worship" which is reserved for God alone. The second Council of Nicaea determined the character of worship in the oriental church for all time to come, and herein lies its significance. Its decision is binding also upon the Roman church, which took part in it by two papal legates, and defended it by a letter of Pope Hadrian to Charlemagne.

The Nicene Council nullified the decrees of the iconoclastic Synod of Constantinople, and solemnly sanctioned a limited veneration (proskynesis) of Images. Recognized images were understood to be the sign of the cross, pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and angels and saints. The council determined that they may be drawn in color, composed of Mosaic or formed of other suitable materials. These should be placed in churches, in houses, and in the street, or made on walls and tables, sacred vessels and vestments. Homage was permitted be paid to them by kissing, bowing, strewing of incense, burning of lights, saying prayers before them; such honor to be intended for the living objects in heaven which the images represented. The Gospel book and the relics of martyrs were also mentioned among the objects of veneration.

The decree of the Second Council of Nicea was fortified by a few Scripture passages about the Cherubim (Ex. 25:17–22; Ezek. 41:1, 15, 19; Heb. 9:1–5), a large number of patristic testimonies, and attested miracles performed by images. A presbyter, for example, testified that he was cured from a severe sickness by a picture of Christ.

Bishop after bishop, even those who had been members of the Iconoclast Synod of 754, renounced his iconoclastic opinions, and large numbers exclaimed together: “We all have sinned, we all have erred, we all beg forgiveness.”

At the request of one of the Roman delegates, an image was brought into the assembly, and reverently kissed by all. At the conclusion, the assembled bishops exclaimed unanimously: “Thus we believe. This is the doctrine of the apostles. Anathema upon all who do not adhere to it, who do not salute theimages, who call them idols, and who charge the Christians with idolatry.Long life to the emperors! Eternal memory to the new Constantine and the new Helena! God protect their reign! Anathema upon all heretics! Anathema especially upon Theodosius, the false bishop of Ephesus, as also upon Sisinnius and Basilius! The Holy Trinity has rejected their doctrines.”

For centuries after the iconoclast controversy, sacred images were used in worship all over Christendom without question until the Protestant Reformers began to eliminate them from churches. Our use of icons in worship today is based in part on the pronouncements of the Ecumenical Councils of the unified church.

CHAPTER TWO:

DEVELOPING THE ART OF ICONOGRAPHY

The great revolution in the church under Constantine dissipated the prejudices against sacred art and the hindrances to its employment in the service of the church. There now arose a Christian art that has beautified and enriched the worship of God, and created immortal monuments of architecture, painting, poetry, and melody, for the edification of all ages. After Constantine, icon veneration became a part of the Divine Liturgy of the Church. Iconography became much more than a form of sacred art.

How do icons differ from other forms of art? Iconographers of the early church had to face a difficult artistic problem. How is it possible for natural material to manifest its "rational" potentialities, to be transfigured into flesh of the Word, of the word of life beyond space, time, corruption and death? And more specifically: How can design and color be used to depict not nature, the corruptible and mortal individual entities, but the spirituality of persons and things in true life?

Certainly, the traditional icons cannot be created or understood apart from the theological truths held and taught by the Church. As in the formulation of theological truth, so also in the manifestations of her art the Church has assumed the actual historical flesh of her time, transfiguring what she has assumed into a revelation of the event of salvation, a revelation ever present and immediate "yesterday and today and forever."

The historical flesh of the Byzantine icon is the Roman art of the first centuries of the Church, or strictly speaking its Greek roots. This ancient Greek art had evolved a technique that permitted the abstraction of the individual and circumstantial characteristics of the person or object depicted. This abstraction reduced the concrete object to a direct vision of its "reason" or essence. The ancient Greek artist did not aim at a faithful representation of the natural person– but a picture which makes possible a dynamic and personal view or vision of the essence of that person. Thus image serves as a measure for the beauty of the life of that person. It sets out the way to look at the person depicted with reason, and relates physical objects to their spiritual reality. The spiritual reality of a person or event depicted in an icon is more important than the realistic image of a painted portrait or photograph. The icon offers a way of seeing which interprets the world from a spiritual perspective, rather than from a natural perspective.

It is certainly through Greek tradition and technique that the Byzantine iconographer reaches the point of transcending the individual and incidental characteristics of the person or object depicted. This transcendence, however, does not aim to reduce the actual event or person to an ideal "universal." For the Byzantine iconographer, the reality beyond corruption and death is the spirituality of the person—the eternal and supernatural qualities of the person depicted. In the icon, the iconographer focuses the personal qualities of life such as love, communion and relationship, the only mode of life that brings harmony and balance (hypostasis) between a person and God.

How is it possible, then, to use the material means of artistic expression to represent a mode of existence that does not do away with individuality, but merely removes one’s autonomy so that the person is depicted in harmony and peace with God?

Byzantine iconography is focused exclusively on the image and unburdened with unnecessary decoration, flowers, embellishments, borders, swirls and branches. The only traditional mediums for panel icons remain egg tempera mixed with pure earth and mineral pigments, and encaustic.

 Iconography is much more than just another art form. It is a worship tool that draws believers into an awareness of the spirit realm. To do this, iconographers eliminate the ideas of distances, and ideas of measurable time with its progression from earlier to later. The technique of the icon– the restriction to two dimensions, the rejection of dimensional "depth" and of temporal sequence in events depicted, the use of colors, attitudes, figures and background– leads to a remarkable level of expressiveness, while preserving and revealing spiritual truth.  In icons the concrete realities of life are subordinated to the spiritual realities of life. This is done through complex symbolism where everything in the icon represents some element of spiritual truth. It is made up of symbols that give the viewer sense of communion and relationship with God and connect him to the event or person being depicted.

The themes and elements icons focus the worshipper on becoming a part of the spiritual realm. Therefore, there are different rules for writing icons, than for producing other forms of sacred art. Iconographers are subjected to the spiritual rather than physical laws. Iconographers could, therefore, show a martyr holding his own head in his hands or simply depicted next to him, Adam's skull placed at the feet of the Cross, the world personified as an old king, St. John the Baptist acquiring wings like an angel... Everything on icons acquires wings, becomes heavenly. The weight and shadows of matter disappear. Thin gold lines, in icons, like rays of Divine Light, enter the represented figures, and all that belongs to the earthly realm, and dematerializes it.

The icon painter moves and works in a celestial holy space that has nothing to do with the concept of dimension or volume seen by the physical eye. Everything is represented in a way that reveals the joyful beauty of new creation, the world returning to its original glory (Rom. 8:21). And while the represented themes may seem to be static or immobile, this apparent immobility declares that everything within lives. This is the 'immovable motion' of the mystics, the 'well of the living water'. The themes and the way they are represented reveal 'the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible.

 Unlike any other form of visual art, icon is an integral part of Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church. Together with the hymnography of the Church ("a theology that is chanted") and ecclesiastical music, iconography, being a theology in color, represents a unique art form based on the Scriptures and Holy Tradition exclusively. This sets it clearly apart from secular art concerned with worldly subjects, but also from the non-iconographic paintings on religious themes, like Italian Renaissance, which are naturalistic, sensuous and representational.

Iconography's main concern is spiritual, the mystical realm where men and nature are sanctified: the Kingdom of God. Iconographer paints the image of the Risen Christ, of Holy Theotokos, Mother of God that has passed through the narrow doors into the eternal life, the saints not as they were when they lived, but as they are now, transfigured and glorified. The holy personages, buildings, mountains, rivers and plants on icons are never a mere representation of people and the material realm that surrounds us, but transformed, incorruptible and shown in their transcendent essence. They are anagogic, meant to draw us upward and are a vision seen through an opened window that looks into heaven. Iconography reveals the spirit within, the "flame of things", according to the expression of St. Isaac the Syrian.

Iconic images are painted in reverse order in comparison to painting with other mediums: from dark to light. Light is the main "color" iconographer works with, from brilliant gold backgrounds to rays of pure light shining from the garments and holy faces. Applying lights on different parts of an icon is how a traditional icon is created. With properly used egg tempera, in subsequent layers and subtle shades, the image is being born right in front of iconographer's eyes. True icon masters believe there is only one, Divine Iconographer, the Holy Spirit, and all we do is to land our hand as a tool, nothing more. This is why traditional icons are never signed at the front. Most often, they are not signed at all, but if they are, the signature can only be found on the back of the icon. The very few of the ancient iconographers who have usually signed their works wrote: "Through the hand of the sinful servant of God” before affixing their names.

Another characteristic of traditional icons is the application of the principles of sacred geometry. On the icons of high quality even the untrained eye can easily recognize basic geometric shapes formed by the composition. Beside halo circles, there are often triangular forms within the squares, within the rectangle, etc. Some in-depth studies of the most famous iconographic images (icons, frescoes and mosaics) show multitude of forms and shapes emanating from one central point. Successful application of these principles

The Byzantine icon is the expression of a common attitude of life, an operation of life, which the artist undertakes to depict by abstracting as far as possible the elements of the natural world so that they reveal spiritual truth. The Byzantines were conscious of the fact that it is the Church which paints the icon "by the hand" of the painter. Thus the technique of abstraction is not an exercise in individual skill. It is an exercise in subjecting arbitrary individual judgment to a set iconographic type, formed from the ascetic experience of earlier teachers of the art, in harmony with the universal experience of the Church.

The subjection of the individual view to a set iconographic type applies not only to the artist, but also to the person looking at the icon. The icon does not put forward a "logically" perfected and ideal view of a person or event, but calls us to a direct communion, identification with and relationship with what is depicted. The set form of iconography works precisely as a starting point, helping us to go beyond our individual ways of looking at things and to accomplish a personal realization of the importance of the spiritual truths being depicted. In iconography, people being depicted have small mouths, large ears, and a focused gaze from their eyes. These three things represent attributes that the “saint” possessed and attributes that we should all strive to emulate.

Our tongue often gets us into trouble. Icons impart to us the spiritual truth that holy people always have small mouths. Consider how these scriptures encourage us to have a small mouth and controlled tongue.

Icons of saints have large ears. The ear is symbolic of hearing the Word of the Lord with the intent to obey. The reason that we often fail when we are tempted is that we sometimes fail to hear and obey God. In the Old Testament, it was assumed that when one heard from God, he would instantly obey. In fact, one Hebrew word for hear and obey is used in many Old Testament passages. That word, shama’, assumes an immediate response to the Word of God. In Psalm 18:44, the Psalmist wrote:  “As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.” When Nehemiah says (Nehemiah 9:16) "They did not obey Thy commandments", he uses ‘shama’, denoting that they did not listen to or hear God’s commandments. It was inconceivable that anyone could know God, hear his commandments, and not do them. To encounter God was tantamount to hearing God with the intent to respond.

      The decisive call is to hear (Isaiah 1:2, 10; Amos 7:16). Hearing entails action in obedience as true seeking (Jer. 29:13; Micah 6:8). For the rabbis of Jesus’ day, hearing was through reading out loud the holy books. Recitation of the Shema brought out the importance of hearing, for the passages used (Deut. 6:4; 11:13; Num. 15:37) show that we know God by studying and keeping his law. The voice from heaven was considered to be a direct, physical apprehension of God. From the Hebrew perspective, if someone is not doing what God told the person to do, he either did not hear God, or does not know God. To know God meant that there would be an immediate response upon hearing God’s Word. Hearing God’s message should be followed by an expected response by those hearing it. The content of hearing corresponds to that of what is heard. It is the reception of grace and the call to repentance in response to salvation and its ethical demand. Thus faith and obedience are the marks of real hearing (Rom. 1:5; 16:26). That is why Jesus often ended a teaching with the words “he who has an ear let him hear.”

            Holy people also have focused eyes to go along with their large ears. Isaiah wrote (Isaiah 29:18):  “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.” For the writers of the Bible, seeing is not just the mechanical use of the eyes to view something. Biblical seeing carries with it the connotation of identification with and understanding of what is being seen. This form of seeing involves first imagining that you are a part of what is seen, followed by a focus on understanding and application of what is viewed. In this way seeing becomes a form of revelation. Consider what these scriptures say about seeing as a form of revelation.

At Mount Sinai the Hebrew people were slow to hear and quick to speak. It could be said they had small ears and big mouths. When they heard that God wanted an audience with them, they told Moses, “Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.” (Deuteronomy 5:27). The people never intended to hear/do what God said, so they put the responsibility on Moses. They had no intention of being doers of the Word. They had no desire to visualize or hear what God was doing, lest they be obligated to understand and apply God’s words and will to their lives. While Moses was on the Mountain, the people were tempted to build an idol (golden calf), and they gave in to that temptation. Had they been quick to hear/do and slow to speak, this sin could have been prevented.

            Unfortunately, many Christians today respond to God in the same way. We often say to our pastors, “You hear from God and tell us what He says.” What we are really saying is, “I don’t want the responsibility of doing what God says, so that I can grow spiritually.” Then, God allows us to be tempted, so that through that temptation we might be perfected or matured (James 1:4). We can either learn to be doers of the Word through obedience as soon as we hear it, or we can learn to be doers of the Word through necessity born in times of trail and temptation. One way or another, God intends for us to hear and do.

            A figuratively small mouth and big ears allow us to hear and focus on what God is saying and doing in the earth and in our lives. Focused spiritual eyes allow us to see people and situations as God sees them. Focused eyes also allow us to see into the spirit world. The iconographer depicts the eyes of the saints as being focused in an otherworldly way. As we embrace this trait of the icon, we begin to see into the spirit world and start to view things from God’s perspective, rather than through the human senses.

Notice the small mouths, large ears, and focused eyes in the following saints. Notice also that some icons have the saint with his head turned to better hear the Word of the Lord.

The icon draws the worshipper into the spirit realm where he or she embraces the characteristics of holiness depicted in the image. A small mouth, large hearing ears, and eyes focused into the spirit realm should become part of our lives. This is why we say that Byzantine iconography does not "decorate" the church but has an organic, liturgical function in Eucharistic worship, existentially elevating us to more spiritual understanding of life.

The technique of icons is incomprehensible apart from the liturgical experience of icons. Icons involve us with the whole body of the Church, living and departed, militant and triumphant, in the oneness of Eucharistic life. In other words, the technique of "abstraction" in Byzantine iconography is much more than a style: it expresses and puts into practice the life and unity of the Church. Through icons we are enabled to attain a renunciation of our individual way of seeing things and an elevation into harmony with the universal Church’s view of persons and things.

St. Maximus summarized the purpose and intent of the iconographer when he wrote: "the unspeakable and prodigious fire hidden in the essence of things, as in the bush, is the fire of divine love and the dazzling brilliance of His beauty inside every thing." This is the subject of Orthodox Iconography and its ultimate purpose.

St. John of Damascus wrote about the affect icons had upon his personal experience of worship.

ICONOGRAPHY IN RELATION TO OTHER ART FORMS

How do icons differ from Western styles of religious art? Icons differ from western religious painting. These differences are not confined to style, choice of theme or allegorical symbolism; they mark a radical distinction and contrast between two views of truth and knowledge, of existence and the world, of the incarnation of God and the salvation of man– in short, they sum up two different understandings of the universe.

In the thirteenth century the Church in the West became more and more corrupt and materialistic, and began to deviate from many of the spiritual principles and forms of worship that had been observed in a thousand years of Christianity. This eventually led to the Reformation that further removed the Western Church from its original roots. From the thirteenth century– a key point for our understanding of all subsequent religious and cultural developments in the West– we can no longer speak of ecclesial iconography in Europe, but only of religious painting. And this means that in the western Church artistic expression ceases to be a study and a manifestation of the Church's theology– at least on the guidelines for visual art formulated by the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

What are the differences between Greek and Russian Icons differ from western religious painting. These differences are not confined to style, choice of theme or allegorical symbolism; they mark a radical distinction and contrast between two views of truth and knowledge, of existence and the world, of the incarnation of God and the salvation of man– in short, they sum up two different understandings of the universe.

Russian iconography does not always escape the temptation to theoretical "style." Looking at a Russian Orthodox icon, what one finds very often is the person or event presented in a schematic and ornamental way. In Russian iconography, nature remains the same, but its mode of existence changes. The dematerializing and spiritualizing of nature is simply an intellectual concept represented as a schematic allegory.

Formalization replaces faithfulness to nature, and tends to aid the impression that nature is spiritualized and dematerialized. The folds of the clothing do not correspond to a real body underneath, and the positions and movements of the bodies are not natural but geometrically formal. The lighting is diffused, almost blending in with the color, so as to give the impression once again that matter has its own light. It is hard to describe these real differences, but they become apparent when we compare Russian and Greek icons.

How does iconography fit into the Convergence Movement? As convergence worship embraces iconography, the Eucharistic realization of the Kingdom will become embodied once again in dynamic forms of social and cultural life, without doing away with the adventure of freedom and sin, because this communal dynamism is the nature of the Church, the organic consequence of her life. It is time for the Church to spell out once again, in humility, the truth of the world, the reason in things and the meaning of history: it will once again fashion in the icon the transfigured face of man.

There are objective rules as to how the iconographer is to make the "background" for the icon, how he is to add the "flesh," how to achieve the highlights while keeping the background color for the "shadows," how to do the mouth and eyes and how to add the "lights" at the end. These rules are unwritten and yet absolutely precise. As he studies his art, the iconographer fasts and prays, in order for his icon to be the work of the Church, not his individual contrivance for the Church. The iconographer represents reality, not as he sees it with his natural eyes, but with the aid of symbols that are models common to the Church's consciousness. It therefore expresses the conception of the holy fathers and their tradition, not that of the iconographer. The Church Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council said this about icons.

Christian worshippers today benefit by embracing many of the ideas and practices of the Early Church Fathers. By tracing the historical process of revelation to the Church, one can experience the continuity between what the Word says, how the Holy Spirit is interpreting the Word, and the traditional teachings of historical Christianity. Christian scholars of various ages attest to the long uninterrupted history of Icon veneration in the worship of both the Eastern and Western Churches.         The Medieval St. John of the Cross, wrote a number of observations of icon veneration in his Ascent of Mount Carmel.

CHAPTER THREE

Byzantine Icons hand-painted in the Traditional Eastern Orthodox style

            'Byzantine icons' refers to Ancient, Medieval and Contemporary icons hand-painted in the Traditional Eastern Orthodox style of the 10th-15th centuries. This 'style' was actually laid down in specific rules that were established in that period following the Orthodox victory over the iconoclasts in the year 843. These rules were formalized in order to make sure that an icon was a Byzantine icon only when it had been painted in accordance with these rules. When making mention of Ancient icons, Medieval icons, or Contemporary icons, one simply is more specific about when the icon was written according to traditional Orthodox style.

            One is naturally inclined to ask: "What is the importance of sticking to these rules?" and "Aren't artists people that are not particularly fond of rules?" and "What is involved in the Traditional Style?" Part of the answer to those questions is that an icon painter ought to be an iconographer. "What then is an Iconographer?" The short answer to that question is that an iconographer is both a painter and a theologian. Just as the Evangelist wrote the Gospel with divine inspiration and assistance, with his hands merely being instruments to put down the words on paper, so is it that the Iconographer in his spritual endeavor to write icons asks for divine intervention, and allows that divine intervention to move his hands to get the paint onto the wood in a manner the at is in accordance with God’s Will. Writing an icon, presupposes, on the part of the Iconographer, not only a prayerful attitude, but also a lifestyle of prayer, meditation and fasting.

KIEV SCHOOL:

This school was active from the end of the 10th century, the time of Christianization of Russia, until Kiev was sacked and burned by the Mongols in 1240. And even though there might have been some icon painting in Kiev after the fall of of the capital, the center of icon painting moved to the north, to Novgorod.

The first icons were brought to Russia from the Byzantine Empire and from Bulgaria, which became an intermediary between Constantinople and Kiev, supplying the newly Christianized state with books, icons, and liturgical objects necessary for the celebration of the mass. We may suspect that the first painters in Kiev were also Greeks or Byzantinized South Slavs. They became teachers of the first Russian painters and gave them a sound training in the Byzantine style and tradition. Since Russians were always exceedingly adept not only at blind mimicking but at taking a step forward, they quickly learned how to extend the Byzantine style and tradition and make it their own.

The early Russian (Kievan) style was still quite dependent on the Byzantine. The compositions were monumental, uncluttered, and simple. Some icons exhibited close affinities with the art of classical antiquity. Most Kievan School icons were painted in darker, more somber tones and were often large in dimensions because they were hand hewn with an axe from a large piece of wood. However, the Russians very quickly abandoned the Byzantine tradition of portraying Christ Pantokrator as a severe and strict judge and started developing a more "humane," understanding, and forgiving image of Christ, the Savior and the Redeemer. This tendency led later, in the Novgorodian and Moscow traditions to the development of a Savior type best known from the work of Andrei Rublev and to the appearance of the "Russian" variants of many saints, particularly St. Nicholas and St. George.

NOVGOROD SCHOOL:

Novgorod has always been a very important Russian city. Once a prosperous mercantile community, it kept its independence until 1478, when it succumbed to Moscow. Before that year, it distinguished itself for its economic, social, political and artistic achievements. As early as the10th century, it became the cradle for new political ideas. Novgorod was a republic (it called itself Lord Novgorod the Great), governed by the veche, a democratic assembly of all citizens, roughly resembling a parliament. The citizens were called to special meetings by the veche bell; the participants made their decisions together. The Novgorodians rejected the idea of the princely rule; instead, they hired a prince when they needed a leader to help them fight their enemies. When the danger was over, the prince was dismissed and asked to leave the city. The princes' names had been often linked with the building of the most famous churches and cathedrals: Cathedral of St. Sophia (1045- 1050), the Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral (1113) and the Cathedral of Saint George in the Yuriev Monastery (1119).

Not many Novgorodian 11th-century paintings have survived, but the surviving works of the 12th century (sometimes only fragments) help prove the existence of an independent local painting tradition. The frescoes at Nereditsa and in the Church of St. George at Staraia Ladoga are the evidence of this kind. Icons from the same period display a very strong Greek influence even though they show a very characteristic Russian style at the same time. In the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, Novgorod produced some of the greatest works of medieval Russian art.. In some of his greatest works it is possible to find the combination of the local style with the style of Constantinople, where he worked before coming to Russia. Later, Theophanes moved to Moscow and contributed to the development of the Moscow School, particularly by working together Rublev other Moscow masters.

Icons represent Novgorodian art better than any other artistic genre . Their style, which developed through the centuries, was probably based not only on "imported" Byzantine examples but on the existing tradition of popular folk art. Early icons are conventional but reflect the spiritual strength and beauty of man. They are simple, laconic and precise; the compositions are based on contrast between large shapes, the colors are saturated and bright, and the drawing is energetic. In the 12th and 13th centuries an emphasis is put on contrasting colors and simplicity of the image.

Among the saints most beloved and popular in Novgorod are Saint Nicholas, Elijah, Paraskeva Piatnitsa (the Holy Friday), Florus and Laurus, and Cosmas and Damianos. Most of these saints were particularly venerated because their celebrations fell on the days important for the peasant's agricultural calendar or because they were connected to the ancient Slavic pagan gods (Saint Nicholas to Veles, St. George to Dazhbog, Elijah to Perun, Paraskeva to Mokosh, and Cosmas and Damianos to Svarog).

Some of the most important features of the mature Novgorodian style of icon painting include: brightness of colors; increased complexity as compared to Kievan and early (10th-13th century) Novgorodian icons; increased liveliness characteristic of their developing "anecdotal style" and "graphic" quality (emphasis on drawing and line).

The late 13th and early 14th century feature a change in style and the introduction of more monumental, flat, graphic qualities together with relative depth of form. The dominant colors are cinnabar, white, ochre, brown and green.

The 14th century, a period of great prosperity for Novgorod, is reflected in a proliferation of Novgorodian icons. The period that follows marks another stylistic change: the 15th-century palette becomes remarkably lighter and the compositions are more dynamic and mobile. Moreover, a precise canonical system for the arrangement of icons in the Iconostasis was finally established. At the end of the 15th century Novgorodian art begins to decline as a result of Moscow's political dominance and the influence of a new generation of Moscow Icongraphers.

Below is a comparison of three of the Schools of Iconography writing a 12th Century Icon of the image of Christ Made Without Hands. All three are basically alike with the exception of color and shading. The Kiev School uses brighter color and reflects a golden hue. The face has a slight transparency, seeming to emerge into view from the background. The effect is less three dimensional than the other two icons. The Novgorod School contrasts shades of brown with hints of blue and other colors, providing more contrast between the face and other parts of the icon. The darker face is more clearly in contrast to the lighter background, and the cheeks show some highlighting. The Cretean School is more traditionally "Byzantine" with the coloring and shading being subtle. The shading is darker around the edges and lighter around the face, with some contrast in the coloring of the face to highlight it in relation to the background color.

Kiev School

Novgorod School

Byzantine-Cretean School

PSKOV SCHOOL:

The history of old Pskov was always connected with the struggle for independence. The "little brother" of Novgorod seems to have been always fighting against foreign invaders, even though, like Novgorod, Pskov was not affected by the Mongol conquest.The painters of Pskov had a number of favorite compositions which they liked to replicate. Like the Novgorodians, they favored St. Nicholas and Elijah, but they also found inspiration in the stories of Christ's descent into Hell, the Nativity, and the Synaxis (gathering) of the Virgin.

Pskov icons display less sophistication and artistry in execution than those of Novgorod, but they show a greater degree of poetic inspiration. Pskov icons have their own, particular style. The frescoes of Mirozhsky monastery were painted in a static and formal archaic manner. The icons of Pskov show a somber, but intense emotionalism. Blacks, yellows, greens and reds are often highly contrasted and the color selection features bright but somber colors.One of the distinguishing factors of Pskovian icons is the painters' preference of the deep "Pskovian" red and the deep "Pskovian" green.With time, the style of Pskov icons evolved, incorporating some elements from the Novgorodian art. From Novgorod the painters borrowed certain favorite topics and learned to use strong outlines that increased the graphic quality of their work. The earliest Pskov icons were monumental but the painters skillfully used intense colors (different from the toned-down colors of Kievan School) and created compositions with a strong rhythmic quality, often sacrificing the elegance of proportions to the dynamism of action.

CHAPTER FOUR

ICONS OF THE NATIVITY

We will now continue our introduction to the study of Icons by examining the symbolism of several traditional icons that relate to the seasons of the Christian Year. We will examine the We will first focus on spiritual truth revealed in the traditional Nativity Icons, followed by and examination of icons of the Baptism of the Lord, the Resurrection, Pentecost, and Transfiguration.

The birth of our Lord took place at the time and place predicted by the prophets (Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 7:14; Jeremiah 31:15; Micah 5:2; Hag. 2:6-9; Daniel 9:24, 25). Joseph and Mary were providentially led to go up to Bethlehem where according to the Scriptures Christ was born (Matthew 2:1, 6; Luke 2:1, 7). The exact year or month or day of his birth cannot, however, now be exactly ascertained. We know, however, that it took place in the “fullness of the time” (Galatians 4:4). Chronologists are now generally agreed that the year 4 before the Christian era was the year of Christ’s nativity, and consequently that he was about four years old in the year 1 A.D.

This festival icon is based on the description of the birth of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. This is one of the most complex icons with rich symbolism that illustrates important theological principles. Authentic icons of the Nativity of Christ depict a flame-like mountain almost touching a cloud-like source of light (the Glory of God). This reflects the realization that heaven and earth are reconciled by God’s Incarnation. That the Glory of God is manifested on earth in Christ is indicated by rays of light emanating from the Glory of God and illuminating the darkness of the cave (the unregenerate world), and sometimes even touching Christ, who lies in a manger/sarcophagus at the mouth of a cave. The manger is presented in an inverse perspective that makes it bear resemblance to an altar.  Mary and Joseph occupy a prominent place in the icon. There are also angels, shepherds, magi, a donkey and ox, a flock of sheep and a flute player. Each of these symbols has significance to our understanding of the Incarnation of Christ.

THE SYMBOLISM AND THEOLOGY OF NATIVITY ICONS

The Light Source In The Heavens:

            The light source at the top of the icon could represent a star, the sun, or a cloud if looked at from a naturalistic perspective. On a theological level it represents the glory and power of God. This Light Source is like a portal into Heaven and out of this portal comes the Bread of Life into the wo