The traditional icons of eastern Europe are not only symbols of faith and objects of devotion: they are also remarkable works of art. These extremely stylised images descend from an ancient culture, handed down from generation to generation, which date back to the beginnings of Christianity.

* Nigel Cawthorne - SOLAR

BACKGROUND

The term "Icon" which comes from the Greek "EIKON" and which means "image" denotes a religious image, considered as being the place of divine presence. Most often they are painted by monks, in conditions of fasting and prayer, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Icons, faithful to aesthetic criteria according to time-honoured tradition, represent figures deprived of individuality, thus reminding one of their status as an ACHEIROPOIETOS image (that which is not made by the hand of Man). They originated in the Christian east, where they are holy and venerated. We find them, in Eastern churches, hanging in the iconostasis, or a wooden partition separating the nave (symbol of the terrestrial world) from the sanctuary (symbol of God's kingdom).

In the 5^th century they acquired the status of a painting destined for veneration, on the occasion of the arrival in Constantinople of the portrait of the 'Virgin and Child' (HODIGITRIA), attributed to St Luke. In this period, several authors including St Augustine confirmed the development of Iconic worship. Some sources even testify that miraculous properties are attributed to a number of them.

St John of Damascus, to whom we owe the writing of 3 treatises on sacred images in 730, informs us, besides, that they hold a mystery and, like a ritual, contain energy and grace.

 

TECHNIQUE

The word 'Icon' is applied above all to an image painted on a wooden panel. The surface of the panel is covered with a linen cloth/canvas and then sealed with plaster (mixed with pure lime or powdered alabaster) which makes up the white background of the painting.

The first Icons were painted using the encaustic technique, which consisted of diluting the pigments in melted wax. In the 8^th century tempera painting appeared; the pigments were diluted in water to which egg had been added.

It was in the 15^th century that artists began making use of oil paints.

The finished work was covered with a layer of varnish that, as it absorbed perspiration and dirt, tended to blacken.

At the start, the number of subjects was quite limited; thus the icons represented Christ, the Virgin and the Apostles. Afterwards we can find icons concerning the great feast days of the liturgical year. On that subject, Christ's resurrection, still called 'Descent into Limbo', remains the most significant.

The Vladimir Virgin

12^th century icon - her extraordinary face expresses tenderness, suffering and abandon to the will of God all at once. This icon was taken to Constantinople as a present to the great prince's family. Its name comes from the town of Vladimir where it resided for more than two centuries. Jesus has his arm around his mother's neck and tenderly places his cheek against hers.

It is currently at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

The Murom Virgin

This icon was taken to Murom by St Constantine (Prince of Murom) to help him in his undertaking to convert it at the beginning of the 12^th century. Its feast day is the 12^th of April.

Trinity

Icon painted by a monk, Andrei Rublev, who lived in the shadow of a church dedicated to the St Trinity by St Sergius of Radonezh, his Spiritual father (1314-1392). The Trinity icon is not like the other icons of Jesus, Mary or saints which are like portraits of those who existed in flesh and blood. The Trinity does not exist visually in this way. The artist put all the force of his expression into emphasizing the worldly within the sacred.

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are God in three people.

The Intercession of the Holy Virgin

The Virgin no longer carries the child. Her two hands are used for prayer, compassion, intercession for all her children. It was designed and painted by Theophanes the Greek, iconographist in the 15^th century. It is part of a group called the 'Deisis' (supplication, in Greek), with Christ in the centre surrounded by Mary and John the Baptist who are pleading.

Virgin of Korsun

17^th century icon - in the ELEOUSA Virgin tradition (affectionately holding the child against her cheek). In his hand Jesus holds a parchment on which the text of the Law is written. This icon owes its name to the harbour town of Korsun to which it was transported.

Virgin of Kazan

Her feast day is the 8^th of July. Her miraculous revelation dates back to 1579. She showed herself in a dream to a very pious eight-year-old girl, Matrona. The Virgin asked her to tell Bishop Jeremy that an icon in her image must be unearthed and paid tribute to. The little girl found this icon in the ruins of a burnt house. The distinctive feature of this icon is in the fact that we only see one of the child's hands, the one that is raised in blessing.

Virgin of the Passion

This icon is also very well known in the West by the name of 'Our Lady of Perpetual Help'.

"She Who Points the Way"

The child is still holding a small white scroll in his hand; it's the good news, the Gospel. The other hand, as in a lot of icons of Christ, expresses through two fingers joined together the two natures of Christ, divine and human in one person, and the three other fingers remind us of the design of the love of the Trinity.

Resurrection

On the left we can find David, Solomon and John the Baptist and on the right the people of God.

Christ the Pantocrator

This is without doubt the most widespread model. This word means 'he who dominates all creation, preserves all in the human being, embracing and holding all in himself. He penetrates all through his power. He still holds in his left hand the book of Scriptures and his right hand expresses with three raised fingers the mystery of the Trinity and with two parted fingers, the mystery of the Incarnation.