The Shepherd, July 2008
On Iconography
by Saint John of Shanghai
ICONOGRAPHY began on the day our Lord Jesus Christ pressed a cloth to His face and imprinted His Divine-human image thereon. According to tradition, Luke the Evangelist painted the image of the Mother of God, and many icons, painted by him, still exist today. As an artist, he painted the first icons of the Mother of God, but also those of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and possibly others which have not come down to us.
Thus, iconography began. Then it came to a halt for a time. Christianity was cruelly persecuted: all that was reminiscent of Christ was destroyed and subjected to ridicule. Thus, during the course of the persecutions, iconography did not develop, but Christians attempted to express in symbols what they wished to convey. Christ was portrayed as the Good Shepherd, and also in the guise of various personalities from pagan mythology. He was also depicted in the form of a vine, an image hearkening back to the Lord’s words: “I am the true Vine. ... ye are the branches” (Jn. 15:1, 5). It was also accepted practice to depict Christ in the form of a fish, because if one writes in Greek “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior” (Iisus Khristos, Theu Ios, Sotir) and then groups together the first letter of each word, one discovers that one has written the Greek word IKHTHIS, “fish.” So, Christians depicted a fish, thereby reminding people of these words, which were recognized by all, who believed in the Saviour. This also became known to the pagans, and consequently the image of the fish was held suspect.
When, following the victory of Emperor Constantine the Great over Maxentius, freedom was given to Christians. Christianity quickly transformed the Roman Empire and replaced paganism. Then iconography flourished with full force. We see directives concerning iconography at the first Œcumenical Councils. In some church hymns, which still are frequently used, iconography is mentioned.
Now what are icons? Icons are precisely the union between painting and those symbols and works of art that replaced icons during the time of persecution. The icon is not simply a representation, a portrait. The icon recalls the spiritual aspect of the Saint depicted.
Christianity is the inspiration of the world. Christ founded His Church in order to inspire, to transfigure the world, to cleanse it from sin and bring it to that state in which it will exist in the ages to come. Christianity was founded on the earth and operates upon the earth, but it reaches to Heaven in its structure; Christianity is that bridge and ladder whereby men ascend from the earthly Church to the Heavenly. Therefore, a simple representation, which recalls the earthly characteristics of some face, is not an icon. Even an accurate depiction, in the sense of physical build, still signifies nothing. A person may be very beautiful externally, yet at the same time very evil. On the other hand, he may be ugly, and at the same time a model of righteousness. Thus, we see that an icon must indeed depict that which we see with our eyes, preserving the characteristics of the body’s form, for in this world the soul acts through the body; however, at the same time, it must point towards the inner, spiritual essence. The precise task of the iconographer is to render, to the greatest extent possible, those spiritual qualities, whereby the person depicted acquired the Kingdom of Heaven, won the Lord’s imperishable crown, as the Church’s true significance is the salvation of man’s soul. That which is on the earth perishes when we bring the body to the grave; but the soul passes on to another place. When the world comes to an end, consumed by fire, there will be a new earth and a new Heaven, as the Apostle John the Theologian says. With the eyes of his soul, he foresaw the New Jerusalem, so clearly described in his sacred Revelation. The Lord came to prepare the whole world for this spiritual rebirth. To prepare oneself for this new Kingdom, one must uproot from within oneself those seeds of sin which entered mankind with our ancestors’ fall into sin, distorting our pristine, grace-endowed nature; and one must plant within oneself those virtues which they lost in the Fall. Our icons speak of the Christian’s goal to change and improve daily.
|
