ICONOGRAPHY

THE SACRED ART IN THE ORTHODOXY

An Orthodox one adores God as an “inspired artist” by God, because he takes for his Lord’s throne his creative inspiration works. The Icons colours and the Byzantine-orthodox ornaments, the sound of the sacred songs, the buildings domes and arches dedicated to the celebration of the divine mystery are not a mere and useful incentive for the Orthodoxy. They, rather, constitute an integral and indispensable part of the cult, for the man is called to humanize the material world and one of the means at his disposal is the transfiguring Iconographic art ability.
The Orthodox Tradition incorporated Iconography in her spiritual existence, considering that Beauty is one of God’s names and where beauty exists there is harmony and God is present. The Orthodoxy recognizes God as the first “Artist”: “God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good” (Genesis 1,3-4). God created the world and He saw that it was good! The Creator of all things made His Work and He contemplated it, therefore the Iconographic art has the sacred function of transmitting us a truth; this one is resultant of the beauty of an Icon. In that sense, the Sacred Art performs a place of first order as theological truth and transfiguration of this world by the divine love reflex.

ICON: IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE

The Icons are characteristic of the Sacred and Liturgical Art of the Oriental Church. When we enter in an Orthodox temple we immediately glimpse countless icons in the whole Church.
It occurs because the icon is synonymous of Byzantine Sacred Art, where it was originated and improved, although it is not restricted to a geographical place. Byzantium irradiated this Iconographic art through the whole Christian empire and today it is found in all the Orthodox Churches disseminated throughout the world. The actuality of the icon is surprising. There is a rediscovering movement of the Christianity sources and the Christian Occident every more day becomes enchanted and marvelled with the icons splendour. These ones have a very important place and mission in the Orthodox spirituality, in which we can understand the prominent place occupied by the Icon, considering that nothing similar exists in the Western religious tradition, both in the Iconographic artistic form and in its spiritual content.
Indeed, the Icon is ignored and incomprehensible to the Christian Occident until its function, mission and sense may be understood. It is what we propose here, when beginning an approach and penetration in the Icon world.

WHAT IS AN ICON?

This is a basic inquiry usually done in general. The word “Icon” comes from the Greek “Eikon”, meaning “Image”, a term with wide applications and in the Occident extensive to the figures with volume or statues representing Christ or the Saints.
The Christian Orient doesn't produce statues keeping the fidelity to the 2nd commandment of the Decalogue (The Ten Commandments of God): “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them” (Exodus 20,4-5; Deuteronomy 5,8-9). That’s why the volume is even considered as a step for a representative anthropomorphism and a slide for the idolatry. An Icon, therefore, is a simple painted image on the wood, with a specific technique and in agreement with well defined canons related to the theme, composition, colour and harmony one intend to express through the iconographic painting.

WHAT AN ICON IS NOT?

It is hard to define what an Icon is for an Orthodox Christian, because the Icon is for him a personal experience, the contemplation through the painting. Therefore, we can only define it negatively; in other words, it is not a picture nor contains feelings or emotions. The icon is not adored and there is not a risk of idolizing the painting, because this one represents an image – a prototype, a model – in reality, the represented person is worshipped, not the object itself.
The Icon is a mysterious presence that is not defined. The Icon is neither a simple artistic style nor a historical way of art and it is not tied to a specific temple.

WHICH IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE ICON?

In the Old Testament God prohibited any representation or divine image (Exodus 20). The Divine pedagogy took the Hebrews at first to listen to the voice of God (Deuteronomy 4, 12-15). Here starts the beginning of the personal experience with God. God could be not represented for He had never been seen by anybody. Men are led and prepared for the true meeting with Christ, which reveals us the true image of God. “Christ is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1, 15). It is based in the Incarnation of the Word of God made Man that His image  may be painted. Being the Icon the revelation of the Invisible, the Iconography is for the eyes what the word is for the ear.

WHICH IS THE FUNCTION OF THE ICON?

The icon has a Sacramental function, taking into consideration that it reflects the Divine, the non-temporal and project us for the eternity, of which the Icon is a privileged window.

The Icon includes a beauty not residing in the “picture” aesthetics but actually in the theological true it communicates us. It even hasn’t only a didactic function of religious teaching, although we can learn with it. What the Gospel proclaims with the word, the Icon announces with symbolic colours and makes it present. In Saint John Damascene’s words, “the Icon is a channel of Grace with sanctifying force”, for it communicates us the Divine Light, attribute of the glory of the Kingdom of God.
Before the Icon, the mental repose and silence open our eyes to the transfiguration light and allow us to contemplate a beauty not of this world.

HISTORY OF THE ICONS

It is difficult to define when the Icons painting started. A very spread tradition attributes the first Icons to the Evangelist Saint Luke, who being a Virgin Mary’s friend, would have painted several Icons of the Virgin, who liked them, blessed and thanked him.
Another tradition relates the Icons with the aerobite image (the Holy Face not painted by human hand) sent by Christ to the king Abgar of Edessa. The legend mentions that Abgar was leprous and wanted to get well. He sent a delegation to Palestine asking Christ the cure and a Lord’s picture. Christ accepted and sent to him a cloth where He had dried His face and His traces got imprinted.
There is a Latin tradition mentioning an episode of Christ's Passion. It is said that Saint Veronica (meaning probably “vero icon”, true image) dried the Lord’s face, and in the cloth was retained the Christ's image.
There were Councils regulating the making of the Icons, like the one “In Trullo”, 691, defending Christological Icon teaching. But the Icon lived a refuse period, precisely called iconoclast, in other words, destructor of Icons. The war to the images was declared by the Byzantine Emperor Lion the 3rd, at 725. The sacred images were condemned, giving place to the Icons defenders' persecution, death and exile. That war was declared under idolatry accusation and this dispute lasted over one century. Even so, at 787 was celebrated the Council of Nicaea, condemning the iconoclasts and justifying the Icons cult. Finally, at 843, on the first Sunday of the Lent, through the Empress Theodora, the images cult was re-established and solemnly celebrated on this occasion the “Victory of the Orthodoxy”. This feast maintains, to the present day, its annual celebration.

WHO PAINTS THE ICONS?

The Icon only has foundation in the Church, in other words, the Icon appears inside the Orthodox Church Tradition in a special context. The iconographer is someone authorized and endorsed by a Church authority for such purpose; he undertakes a specific artistic – Iconographic –  “learning” related to the technique itself and follows spiritual recommendations, for the accomplishment of his work: prayers, fast, reading and biblical meditation. The iconographer (Icons painter) should be obedient, prayerful, humble, meek and merciful – he should not be hypocrite, nor impertinent, envious, drunk or thief. He should keep the spiritual and corporal purity.

THE ICONOGRAHER AND THE TRADITION

It is important to underline that the iconographer is based in the spiritual Tradition of the Church. This one defines an actualization of the living inheritance, not as a past inheritance conservation, but as a “transmission”.
The Icon is one of the Holy Tradition of the Church’s expressions, just like the written and oral tradition. The meaning of the word iconographer is “the one who writes the icons”; he should have a spiritual preparation in direct contact with the Church, which blesses and guides him in his iconographer’s “artistic” work. Therefore, the Icon spiritual content resides in the fidelity to the tradition of the Church, that defines through a series of canons and prescriptions, the limits inside of which the iconographer “genius” is moving, which one is less individual and more theological.
In the Icon, the iconographer is almost anonymous; he is an instrument of the Holy Spirit’s work, lending him His particular talent. None iconographer intends to be “an original artist”; that is completely strange to the purpose of the Icon.

THE ICONOGRAFIC SCHOLLS

A lot of iconographic schools exist. Greeks and Slavs are the most important ones, creating a great diversity of schools. Our Portuguese iconographers received the tradition from the Archbishop of Braga and Lisbon, Metropolitan Gabriel of “Eternal” Memory (and from our actual Primate and Metropolitan John of Portugal).