![]() The mouth is small, meaning that the individual obeys the sacred commandments of God rather than speaking. To that end, there are no open mouths, no expression, and no actions. The intent is to portray inner beauty instead of ideal physical appearance. There is no attempt by iconographers to show the human body in its normal proportions, Kh. ![]() There are no shadows in iconography because there is no sense of the time of day. The decision to depict a figure as big or small, placed near or far away, depends on its importance in the event. ![]() Instead, they give a sense of entering the divine world where space and time are insignificant. This is because of God’s perception of time, according to Holy Scripture: “A day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”Īnother difference is that holy icons are not painted in realistic perspective. While a painting may depict events in sequence, a religious icon can depict different scenes and events as if they occur at the same time. Randa explained, there is no sense of time in icons because they are not intended to be “of this world”. What distinguishes an icon from a painting?įirst, Kh. “The iconographer does not add anything new to religious icons, but strictly follows the Christian tradition and the canons of iconography.” The work must invite the Christian to enter into “contemplation, prayer, and silence.” “Iconography has canons and rules,” she explained. Randa first prays and then reads extensively to learn about the saint or the subject. “Refusing or rejecting the icons or attacking them is denying the Incarnation of God and the existence of Christianity.”īecause each icon is intended to be a narrative, iconographers speak of “writing” an icon, not painting or drawing it. “Accepting the icons and venerating them is accepting the mystery of the Incarnation of God Himself,” Kh. ![]() “Through color and lines, an icon expresses what the gospel proclaims in words.” In contrast, an icon “is a window into heaven that opens your eyes into another realm,” Kh. She explained that an idol is a sculpted work showing an imaginary god or animal, and thus there are no three-dimensional sculptures or statues in the Orthodox tradition. The image speaks to the sight as words to the ear it brings us understanding.” What a book is to the literate, that an image is to the illiterate. I will not cease from honoring that matter which works my salvation…The image is a memorial just what words are to a listening ear. “I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. John of Damascus and his famous work, “ Apologia Against Those Who Decry Holy Images”: Randa posed this question, “Those who defended their faith, don’t they deserve to be venerated?” Noting that many of the saints depicted in icons have been martyrs for Christianity, Kh. The honor that is given to the icon passes to its prototype.” “Icons are a means of honoring God, his saints, and the holy angels. They are not to be worshipped, but venerated and honored. Randa began the day with an explanation of the purpose of icons in Orthodoxy. She spoke at a retreat held recently at St. Randa Al Khoury Azar, a professional iconographer and a faculty member at the Antiochian House of Studies, I am delighted to have more insight into the deeper meaning of Orthodox icons and the scholarship that goes into their preparation and writing. Khourieh Randa decodes the language of icons 5th November, 2019Īs a newcomer to the Orthodox faith more than 20 years ago, I can still remember my first sight of the profusion of holy icons when I walked into an Orthodox church, and how foreign they seemed – severe yet serene, so different from the rotund Renaissance images of the infant Jesus and the Virgin Mary that fill non-Orthodox churches and decorate western Christmas cards.Īfter a day listening to the teaching of Kh.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |