Click to enlarge image and read history of icon

Français Links Page

Byzantine Icons, Frescoes and Mosaics

(Orthodox Byzantine Icons)
Click link to read what it takes for an icon to be a byzantine icon

Introduction: The Essential Feature of Icons

Contents
1. Image of the invisible, presence of the Invisible
2. The first images
3. The Holy Virgin Mary proclaimed Mother of God
4. Iconography and Iconoclasm in Byzantium
5. The triumph of Orthodoxy
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography

---

We have known icons since at least the 5th or 6th century. Even so, they seemed to have disappeared in the first half of the 20th century. They did not disappear, however, but they were suppressed. In the Soviet era in Russia, for example, icon painting was forbidden. Nonetheless, several icon painters painted or restored icons in secret. Then icons made a comeback. So one may raise the question 'what is it that makes icons so special' ? What is it that makes people, monks and others, even risk their lives by continuing to paint icons?

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).

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. Better than any other sacred image, the icon of Christ " not made by the hand of man " expresses the dogmatic principle of iconography. (This refers to the miraculous icon of the Holy Face of the XIIth century, also known as Acheiropoietos, shown to the left at the start of this page). That's why the 7th Synod (787) gives it very special attention. And to commemorate the definitive triumph of the holy images, this icon of Christ is venerated the day of "Orthodoxy". (Daniel Rousseau, L'Icône, Splendeur de Ton Visage, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1982, pp. 232-233.)
(a) Cf. Dogma of Chalcedon.
(b) Note: The above text is a translation from the French text by Fr. Rousseau. One might add that illumination by the Holy Spirit is a required key element for both the theologian and the iconographer to be able to express the living Truth.

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. »  (Source: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part Two: The Celebration of the Christian Mystery" paragraph 1160. Here is the link to paragraphs 1154-1162.)

Only "something similar, but not identical" because one might interprete the above phrase as saying « Christian (Orthodox) iconography expresses [to the unlettered] in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates [to the literate] by words. Image and word illuminate each other. » This interpretation might lead to the conclusion that Iconography and Scripture are identical. But they are not. Scripture cannot substitute Iconography. And Iconography cannot substitute Scripture.

« In truth there is nothing in Western Christian experience quite the same as the Eastern Orthodox Icon. It is as fundamental and essential to our theology and dogma as scripture. St. Theodore the Studite wrote: "Just as everyone, no matter how perfect, is in need of the Gospel tablet, so (does one need) the painting expressed according to it" (c).»
(The Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Canada "To the Glory of God: the Icon", 1998, http://www.istocnik.com/articles/40/eng_glory.html.)
(c) Note: St. Theodore the Studite also wrote: "If contemplation with the intellect had been sufficient, it would have sufficed for the Word to come among us intellectually only" .»

It took a long time before we saw the icon appear the way we know it today through its ancient representations. Its development was influenced by complex historical contexts and many cultural dependencies. It was also influenced by the war of the holy images during which the fury of the iconoclasts destroyed innumerable highly venerated icons.

The first images as we know them are paintings of the catacombs of the 3rd century (see Catacombs). They show the Mother of God with the Wise Men adoring the Child. This means that these images were subordinated to christologic themes. This isn't surprising : just like Mariology developed from Christology, the iconography of Mary depends on the iconography of Christ. However, the images of the catacombs are not images of the cult : they are not venerated for they are not portrait representations of Christ and the Virgin and they remain in the symbolic sphere. And the holy image cannot go beyond this limit because the Church has not yet elaborated the dimensions of the mystery of the Incarnation which will become apparent during the Synods.

In the beginning of the 4th century iconography starts to develop in an important way. Among the numerous reasons for this, is the coming to power of Emperor Constantin, in the 4th century, and his spectacular conversion. Christianity is made the State religion in 380, and the Church enters an era of peace. It is then that an esthetic creation gets underway that will determine art for the next centuries. The Third Ecumenical Councel (1), (2) is held in Ephesus in 431 and proclaims Mary : Mother of God. One starts to represent the Mother of God sitting solemnly on the trone with the divine Child sitting on her lap : the Mother of God Kyriotissa (see icon to the left). Also see the mosaic of the Virgin and Child Enthroned (one screen down). Dating back to about the year 850, it reportedly is the oldest surviving mosaic in the Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, Turkey.

Following are a few tributes paid to the Virgin Mary by the bishop of Alexandria at the occasion of Mary being proclaimed, Mother of God.
  - Through You the Trinity is glorified and adored !
  - Through You heaven exults, angels rejoice, demons are chased away !
  - Through You all of creation, slave of idolatry, will embrace truth !
  - Through You churches are founded all over the earth and people are converting themselves !

However, a major conflict breaks out between partisans and enemies of icons, between defenders of Orthodoxy and heretics, between iconodules (icon lovers) and iconoclasts (image breakers) : the Iconoclasm* from 730 to 843. It's a doctrinal war. A first period (730 to 780) starts in 730 when Leon the Isaurian (726-741) decretes the prohibition of the icon cult which he classifies as idolatry. But it is not just a religious quarrel; it is the close of an era, the coming together of all sorts of tendencies, religious, political and economical that put into question all values in each and every domain. It is a complex phenomena. Nevertheless, dogmatic question points form the root of the problem. Following a period of reinstatement of the holy images (780-813), a new iconoclastic period (813-842) breaks out which ends in 842.
----------------------------
* - Icons and iconoclasm by Alan L. Hayes, Toronto School of Theology.
- Icons and iconoclasm in Byzantium by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Medieval Sourcebook - Iconoclasm by Paul Halsall, Fordham University.
- Iconography and Iconoclasm in Byzantium General References.

A new Synod opens in 843 and Orthodoxy triumphantly wins out with the exaltation of icons in all churches : The indescribable Word of the Father becomes describable when it is incarnated in You, Mother of God. The iconoclasm reveals a crisis with enormous consequences. The dispute concerning the holy images is fundamental because it is intimately linked to the very essence of christianity, to the Incarnation.

Once one has examined the cult of icons, its long history and the rules governing the technique of painting (writing) icons, it will be understood that:
- icons are not mere art works
- iconography has enormous (if not essential) spiritual significance
- an icon is an image of the invisible and even presence of the Invisible.

"The great meaning given to the technique of the icon, the enormous spiritual significance of the iconography, burdens the iconographer with responsibilities and sets him on the same level of the theologians and the custodians of the Ecclesiastical Tradition." (Diacon Serafim Semkin - The technique of the iconography and its religious meaning. How to become an iconographer http://www.st-nicholas-sd.org/av/katalog_eng.htm#2.)

"The icon is a link between the human and the divine. It provides a space for the mystical encounter between the person before it and God. It becomes a place for an appearance of Christ, the Theotokos or the Saints--provided one stands before the icon with the right disposition of heart and mind. It creates a place of prayer. An icon participates in the event it depicts and is almost a re-creation of that event existentially for the believer. As [the Russian Theologian] Serge Bulgakov said, 'By the blessing of the icon of Christ, a mystical meeting of the faithful and Christ is made possible.' Throughout the world, many icons are for this reason regarded as 'wonder-working', providing both spiritual and temporal blessings. They are venerated as instruments of miraculous intervention. They provide courage and strength in a world marked with tragedy and suffering. They provide joy since icons remind us that we are deeply loved by God."  
(Paul Boyce - Byzantine Iconography - A Brief Overview
http://www.csg-i.com/icons/html/overview.htm .)

While St. Benedict, who initiated Western spirituality, teaches us to listen, the byzantine Fathers invite us to look. In his book "Behold the Beauty of the Lord, praying with Icons", Father Henri Nouwen says : " Just as we are responsible for what we eat, likewise we are responsible for what we are looking at. It is not difficult to become victim of the numerous visual stimulations that surround us. Yet we can make a choice. When it is not possible to pray, we can always briefly look at an icon which is so intimately linked with the experience of love. "

When looking at (or contemplating) an icon of the Mother of God, we put ourselves in her presence, and through Her and with Her in the presence of her Son, who is Source of that very special grace that comforts, saves, protects, liberates and transforms.

I like to close the chapter with how Fr. Egon Sendler SJ sums up the essential feature of icons : The Essentiel Feature of icons : a Presence of the Unsayable that springs forth from matter. (Sendler E., L'Icône, Image de l'invisible, 1981, p. 59)

DONADEO Maria, Icônes de la Mère de Dieu, Paris, 1987
NOUWEN Henri, Behold the Beauty of the Lord, 1991
ROUSSEAU Daniel, L'Icône, Splendeur de Ton Visage, Paris, 1982
SENDLER Egon S.J., L'Icône, Image de l'invisible, Paris, 1981
SENDLER Egon S.J., Les icônes byzantines de la Mère de Dieu, Paris, 1992

Note : Parts of the above texts have been translated into English from texts in French of one or more of the authors, either shown in the bibiography or referred to in the body of the text. An effort was made to maintain the original texts, albeit in another language, in order to minimize any possible misinterpretation.

Click here to go to the Links Page and see images in 23 different countries (medieval icons, frescoes and mosaics). Or click 'Top of Page' below and select a page from the 'drop down menu'.