Icon Art
PAINTING THE DIVINE
When is a painting not just a painting? When does it become a symbol of the mystic, the spiritual? For more than 1,500 years, the faithful from the Orthodox Christian tradition have stood in front of images or icons of their God, seeking a connection to the divine. Byzantine icon paintings—relatively small, gold-leafed two-dimensional works of art emblazoned with colorful images or symbols of God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, saints, and martyrs—have become the most recognizable form of icon art today. Although most Byzantine icons were painted on wood panel, icons were also cast in metal, carved in stone, embroidered on cloth, frescoed, or printed on paper. You would just as easily find an icon painting in a private home as you would in the candlelit niche of a church; for the believer, the icon can bring sacredness and reverence to any location.
The Byzantine style began in the 5th century and continued to develop until the fall of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) in 1453. By this time, the rich cultural heritage of icon art had been widely diffused—by the spread of Orthodox Christianity—to Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Greece, and Russia. Its traditions continue to influence contemporary icon artists in Eastern Orthodox countries as a powerful reminder of the spiritual experience these images can evoke.—SBR
Traditional Greek Orthodox icon painting