One of the most famous Byzantine icons of all time, the Virgin Hodegetria image was copied widely in Byzantium in all media ( 17.190.103). In this composition, the Virgin cradles the Christ Child in her left arm and points toward him with her right hand. The ability to miraculously replicate was a common feature of acheiropoieta.īy the twelfth century, a wooden panel image of the Virgin Hodegetria (“the guide”) was attributed to the miraculous creation of the evangelist, Saint Luke. The most famous acheiropoieta included the Mandylion, a white cloth imprinted with the face of Christ, and the Keramion, a ceramic tile which received the impression of Christ’s face from the Mandylion. A significant number of acheiropoieta originated in the Early Byzantine period, before the advent of Iconoclasm in the early eighth century. This category of miraculously created image was accorded special veneration throughout the history of Byzantium. Icons created by divine agency were known as acheiropoieta (“not made by (human) hands”). ![]() Miraculous healings and good fortune were among the requests.Īcheiropoieta, or Icons “Not Made by (Human) Hands” In Byzantine theology, the contemplation of icons allowed the viewer direct communication with the sacred figure(s) represented, and through icons an individual’s prayers were addressed directly to the petitioned saint or holy figure. Alternatively, icons could be of a more permanent character, such as fresco and mosaic images decorating church interiors. Icons could be mounted on a pole or frame and carried into battle, as has been suggested for the Saint Demetrios icon ( 1970.324.3). Some were suspended around the neck as pendants, others (called “triptychs”) had panels on each side that could be opened and closed, thereby activating the icon. Icons ranged in size from the miniature to the monumental. While today the term is most closely associated with wooden panel painting, in Byzantium icons could be crafted in all media, including marble, ivory, ceramic, gemstone, precious metal, enamel, textile, fresco, and mosaic. They are deeply rooted in the gospel, and have been cherished and venerated by Christians from the earliest times.Icons (from the Greek eikones) are sacred images representing the saints, Christ, and the Virgin, as well as narrative scenes such as Christ’s Baptism ( 2013.980a–d) and Crucifixion. Icons have a very prominent and important place in the worship and piety of the Orthodox Church. ![]() Since the 9th Century, the Orthodox Church has established a set of technical rules, or canons for the artistic form of icons. ![]() Thus the icon becomes, in a way, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, containing spiritual power. The iconographer is expected to fast, pray, and live a holy life so as to be capable of expressing sacred and divine mysteries. The painting (more properly called writing) of icons is a special vocation. In this sense, the icon has been called "a meeting between heaven and earth". The Incarnation of Christ (God made man, and thus visible) is the theological foundation of the icon which seeks to reveal the divine through visible and familiar content. And Iconography is the spiritual art of expressing the spiritual reality of these people and events using sacred symbolic forms and mystical colors.Īn icon, in fact, manifests our human participation in the divine through its symbolic pictoral language. Herman of Alaska, or some event from salvation history, such as the the Nativity of Christ, the Resurrection, or an Ecumenical Council. Given that context, the subject of an icon is some person such as Christ, Mary the Theotokos (mother or bearer of God), an Old or New Testament figure such as Abraham, the Prophet Elija, or an Apostle, etc., some hero of the Church, such as St. With that in mind, let us consider the icon as an artistic and spiritual representation of a sacred person or event. 1:26-27) In the discussion that follows, when we talk about the Icon as an "artistic representation", we are ultimately talking about the attempt to represent that "image of God" in and through the person of the one portrayed. 1&2) he endowed our forbearers with His divine image and likeness. For most of this document we will be talking about icons as sacred images, but in order to fully understand what we mean, we'll start with a much more specific and narrow definition. ![]() The word has come to usually mean sacred image, though it really means much more than that.
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