Literatura científica selecionada sobre o tema "Byzantine Icon painting"

Abstract In the context of the flagrant mistakes that are encountered in ecclesiastical painting and the lack of basic knowledge in this field, this study comes to present how Hermeneia has evolved throughout history. Starting from the Byzantine period, passing through the post-Byzantine period and reaching to the present day, Hermeneia and her predecessors, manuscripts and sketchbooks, aimed to help and maintain a canonical-artistic-ecclesial unity throughout the Orthodox Christian area. Another aspect of the article presents some ways of approaching Hermeneia from various points of view: technical, iconographic-illustrative, compositional, academic and theological. Throughout history, Hermeneia has been synthesized and structured in such a way as to provide a maximum of information but its volume should not be difficult to use by iconographers.

Seni lukis Byzantine adalah salah satu warisan kesenian dunia yang belum banyak dibahas oleh kalangan akademisi seni di Indonesia. Warisan seni lukis Byzantine sering disamakan dengan Ikonografi, yaitu gambar-gambar suci yang sampai hari ini masih dipertahankan fungsinya dalam gereja-gereja yang menggunakan ritus Byzantine (Gereja Orthodox dan Gereja Katolik Ritus Byzantine). Seni Byzantine dibagi tiga periode, yaitu awal, tengah, dan akhir, dimana pada periode Tengah-Akhir muncul ikon berjenis Menologion. Seni lukis Byzantine dikaji menggunakan Ikon Pesta Transfigurasi yang merupakan digitalisasi dari ikon aslinya yang berasal dari abad ke-16 untuk menjelaskan bentuk visual, struktur dan hubungannya dengan narasi. Kajian menemukan ada kesamaan antara visualisasi narasi ikon dengan struktur pesta Gerejawi yang memiliki tiga pola (Pra Pesta – Pesta – Pasca Pesta/Apodosis).Byzantine painting is one of the world's artistic heritage that art academics have not widely discussed in Indonesia. The legacy of Byzantine painting is often equated with iconography, which is sacred images that still retain their function in churches that use the Byzantine rite (Orthodox Church and Byzantine Rite Catholic Church). Byzantine art had developed in three periods, namely beginning, middle, and end, wherein the Middle-Late period, an icon of the Menologion type appears. The byzantine painting was studied using the Transfiguration Feast Icon, digitizing the original icon dating from the 16th century to explain its visual form, structure, and relationship to narrative. The study found similarities between the visualization of the iconic narrative and the ecclesiastical party structure with three patterns (Pre Pesta – Pesta – Post-Pesta / Apodosis).

Orthodox churches in the east of Ukraine, built (or restored) during the period of the state independence, are painted either in the style of academic painting or in the Byzantine style. Moreover, the style of academic painting is more typical of temples painted in the 1990s and the early 21st century; and in the last two decades, the customers and icon painters prefer the Byzantine style of painting. Answering the questions related to the reasons for changing the style of painting of Orthodox churches in the east of Ukraine at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries, the author offers her point of view from the standpoint of culturology. In contrast to the style of academic painting, the Byzantine style of painting conveys through visible images the invisible, spiritual, mystical, spiritual, which was the subject of search in the analyzed historical period.The author of the article analyzes the processes taking place in the religious culture and art of our state after gaining independence and comes to the following conclusions.There are several main reasons for the change in the style of painting Orthodox churches in the east of Ukraine at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries: the search for national identity as one of the important and defining processes in the culture of Ukraine, which is relevant for all regions of Ukraine (both for the West and for the East); the perception of Kyivan Rus as the main (in historical retrospect) monument in the history of Ukrainian statehood (the time of Rus, of course, is associated with the Byzantine style of temple painting); the spread of icon-painting schools and the increased interest in canonical (Byzantine) iconpainting; the desire to adhere to the ancient Byzantine statutes in monastic life; the development of religious tourism and exchange of experience between masters.The prospect of further research on this topic can be considered the study of regional features of church painting, creativity, and various components of the work of individual Ukrainian artists, including icon painters.

The fragment of stone icon with the image of Virgin, outstretching her arms in prayer, has been found in 1949 during the excavations of B. A. Rybakov on the site of Vshchizh, the small city of Chernigov principality. After the invasion of Batu Khan in 1238 it was destroyed and depopulated until the 16th century. T. V. Nikolaeva included the icon into the catalog of Rus stone icons as local craftsman’s production of 12th (?) century, exquisitely made and preserved the painting. The icon has been reproduced on the poor-quality black and white photography and for a long time did not attract the attention of researchers. The examination of digital image of the icon showed that T. V. Nikolaeva opinion was incorrect. The icon preserved not only the painting but also the gilding and Greek letters of dipinto representing the monogram of Mother of God. Usually the dipinti or their traces preserve very poorly on a stone and bone, especially on the icons which have been worn on the breast. The painted inscriptions were wiped away and later replaced by carving or repainting. Gilding, painting and dipinti are known on the Byzantine stone and bone icons but they have not been found on the icons made by Rus craftsmen in pre-Mongolian time. The using of all these techniques, fine relief, thickness of the plate (less than 1 cm) permit to consider the icon from Vshchizh the work of Byzantine, probably Constantinople, craftsman. The iconography makes it possible to attribute the image of Virgin to the type of Hagiosoritissa, and the style permits to date the icon to the second half of 12th — the beginning of 13th century.

The purpose is to study the themes and the stylistics of the upper and lower churches’ iconostases of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa. The comparative method was used in order to study the topic and identify the artistic and stylistic features of Odessa Cathedral iconostases. It allows comparing the objects of study with analogues from the world art. Iconological, iconographic methods and figurative-stylistic analysis were also applied. The iconostases of the Transfiguration Cathedral upper and lower churches in Odessa are organically inscribed in the architectural environment, thanks to which the synthesis of arts is reached. Classical architecture and the original spatial architectonics of the upper temple altar barrier determined the theme and the style of the icon-painting. It was found out that the decoration and the icons in the Transfiguration Cathedral upper and lower churches’ iconostases combine the multi-temporal traditions of Christian art. The upper church central iconostasis reflects the influence of Renaissance architecture and art. The icon painting characteristic feature is a combination of the European art heritage, specifically Italian and Northern Renaissance, classicism, baroque and academicism of the XIX century. A three-dimensional style of painting based on the Western European tradition is observed. The decoration of the lower temple altar barrier contains architectural elements of Byzantium, Ancient Rus and baroque. The icon painting was created in the canonical Byzantine style of the Paleologue Renaissance period. By studying the features of the Transfiguration Cathedral iconostases, the main trends in church art of the second half of the XX–XXI centuries were identified: the application and combination of the renaissance-academic and the Byzantine-Ancient Rus styles. A detailed study of Odessa Cathedral iconostases was conducted for the first time. The features of the icon-painting themes and stylistics in the connection with the architectonics of the iconostases and the temple’s architecture were revealed. Practical significance is due to the possibility of using research materials in monographs on art history of Odessa, in the preparation of textbooks and methodological instructions with an in-depth study of icon-painting, monumental and decorative art, in the working-out of lectures’ and practical classes’ texts.

The field of Leonardo da Vinci Studies has seen rapid advancement in recent years. Multiple research projects have been conducted on Leonardo’s observation of the natural world in relation to his inventions and painting techniques. Nonetheless, there lacks a consensus on how nature has impacted Leonardo’s interpretation of religious icons, such as the Virgin and the Christ Child. Therefore, this paper emphasizes Leonardo’s recreation of visual narrative using symbolism and natural setting within his series of icon paintings. The study opens with an inspection of the preceding Byzantine style and late-Medieval icon painting as a comparative reference, then discusses early experimentations that introduce symbolic themes in conjunction with natural elements. This is followed by visual analyses of the Paris Virgin of the Rocks and The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne. Evaluations will be performed on the two paintings’ intentions in remodeling theological narratives with compositional symbolism, technical enrichment, and geological presentations. The study reveals Leonardo’s use of a recreated natural environment as a manifestation of divinity, which functions in concert with his humanized divinity to realize a personalized view of sacred iconography. This aesthetic privatization ultimately transforms icon painting from a collectivized liturgical tool to an individualized interpretation of godhood.

It still seems to me correct to date the icon “Christ Pantocrator” from the Rublev Museum back to around 1200 or to the first quarter of the 13th century, that is, the pre-Mongol period. Masterfully painted, but far from the refined roots of the Constantinople style, the icon bears clear signs of the art of Northern Greece and Macedonia, and the tradition of Kastoria seems to be especially close. The origin of the object remains unclear; it could have been the work of both a Greek and a Russian master. However, even if we consider both the icon board and its painting to be by Russians, it is very close to Byzantine art, and precisely of this region. Probably, such closeness is an indication of the influence of Northern Byzantine art on the development of regional features of the painting of 13th century North-Eastern Russia.

In this article a miraculous icon of the Virgin Hodegetria with twelve Great Feast (Dodekaorton) scenes (third quarter of the fourteenth c.) in the church of the Dormition of the Virgin in Nessebur (Mesembria) in Bulgaria is presented. The icon, which belongs to the category of inlaid icons, bears a silver revetment (eighteenth-nineteenth c.). The iconography, as well as the style and the technique of painting, seems closely related to the Palaeologan icons of the second and mainly the third quarter of the fourteenth century. This allows us to suppose that the main icon, as well as the framing icon, are works of anonymous painters, probably from a painting workshop of Constantinople or a local one, influenced or formed in the Byzantine capital.

В статье предпринимается попытка описания различных аспектов византийского влияния на средневековое церковное зодчество и изобразительное искусство (иконопись) аланских храмов, расположенных на территории Северного Кавказа. Анализируются проблемы сохранения этого уникального культурного наследия, а также работа художников-реставраторов, осуществляемая в этом направлении. Эта проблема актуализируется датой празднования 1100-летия Крещения Алании, к которой приурочена активизация исследований аланского христианского наследия. Поскольку учреждение Аланской митрополии осуществлялось Византией, то вполне логично искать в аланской христианской архитектуре черты византийского влияния. Основное внимание уделено состоянию Шоанинского и Сентинского храмов, расположенных на территории современной Карачаево-Черкесии. Упомянутым храмам наносится серьезный ущерб. Дело не только в недостаточном финансировании, выделяемом на поддержание их в должном состоянии, но и варварской деятельности «черных археологов», туристов, оставляющих граффити на средневековых стенах и т.д. Необходима более существенная работа с населением в целях пропаганды бережного отношения к своему наследию.Кроме того, в статье анализируется вклад молодых историков и художников в деле изучения элементов византийского наследия в области архитектуры и иконописи в средневековых храмах на территории Карачаево-Черкесии, в частности, в храме в селении Коста Хетагурова. Интересным представляется открытие, сделанное А. Виноградовым и Д. Белецким: ими были обнаружены изображения византийских крестов и тамг, спрятанных под слоями штукатурки в Архызском храме. Ценным источником, наведшим исследователей на упомянутые находки, является опубликованный в 1857 г. на иврите в «Записках Императорского Археологического общества» дневник караима А. Фирковича. The article attempts to describe various aspects of the Byzantine influence on medieval church architecture and fine art (icon painting) of Alanian temples located in the North Caucasus. The problems of preserving this unique cultural heritage, as well as the work of restoration artists carried out in this direction, are analyzed. This problem is updated by the date of the celebration of the 1100th anniversary of the Baptism of Alania, which is timed to intensify research on the Alanian Christian heritage. Since the establishment of the Alanian metropolis was carried out by Byzantium, it is quite logical to look for features of Byzantine influence in the Alanian Christian architecture. The main attention is paid to the state of the Shoanin and Sentin temples, located on the territory of modern Karachay-Cherkessia. The mentioned temples are seriously damaged. It is not only the lack of funding allocated to maintain them in proper condition, but also the barbaric activities of "black archaeologists", tourists leaving graffiti on medieval walls, etc. More instructing of the population is needed in order to promote respect for their heritage.In addition, the article analyzes the contribution of young historians and artists in the study of the elements of the Byzantine heritage in the field of architecture and icon painting in medieval churches in North Ossetia, in particular, in the church in the village of Kosta. The discovery made by A. Vinogradov and D. Beletsky is interesting: they discovered images of Byzantine crosses and tamgas hidden under layers of plaster in the Arkhyz temple. A valuable source that led researchers to the mentioned finds is the diary of Karaim A. Firkovich published in 1857 in Hebrew in the "Notes of the Imperial Archaeological Society".

Since Manolis Chatzidakis’s pivotal publications on post-Byzantine Cretan icon painting in the 1970s, research in the field is, by now, very well established. In turn, these studies have demonstrated the contribution of Venetian Crete’s artistic production to European culture. Despite Giorgio Vasari’s condemnations of the ‘Greek style’, Byzantine icons remained popular in Renaissance Europe among Western patrons. Research on Venetian Crete has greatly benefitted from the survival of its archives, presently housed in Venice (Archivio di Stato di Venezia), an incredibly rich and invaluable source of information. One of the best-known published and referenced documents from these archives, supporting the wider popularity and dissemination of Cretan icons, is a contract offered to three Cretan painters dated 4 July 1499 concerning the production and delivery of 700 icons of the Virgin in just 42 days, by 15 August 1499, the day of the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin. This paper revisits the information the famous contract provides with the aim to scrutinise it further.

The post-Byzantine Art was not only one of the most important artistic movements of Greece, but it was also a period in which serious and decisive changes took place. The most important change was the change of the materials and techniques; from egg yolk to drying oil and from panel paintings on wood to easel paintings on canvas. A series of a hundred and twenty one panel paintings, representative samples of this period (late 15th century up to the early 19th century) and from the work of the most important artists, who represent this period but who also contributed to the evolution of the later pictorial art were studied in the current research. Trying to find evidence of time and location for changes in practice between Constantinople, Greece and Venice, two hundred and one samples were collected from Crete, Athens Thessaloniki, Cephalonia, Zakynthos and Patmos. The aim was to provide timellocation data slices concerning the creation of the artwork~nd to identify the materials present in order to be able to detect any possible changes to the technique. The research proved to be quite a complicated task, not only due to the nature of the materials studied, but also due to the limited samples and sample quantity available. A multi-method approach was employed in order to characterise the artists' materials. The analytical means with which the investigation was carried out were: Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis, .Fourier Transform Infrared Microscopy and Gas Chromatography. Additionally,· other.two techniques were used to offer complementary information wherever necessary: Raman microscopy and staining of cross-sections. Pure binding media, as well as emulsions were detected, while the nature of the selected pigments was identified. The artistic changes that took place in the postByzantine of painting did record on the techniques available. It is obvious that while in the Byzantine art the main binder is egg yolk, immediately after the formation of the post-Byzantine School egg/oil emulsion and drying oil are introduced. In the 16th century there seems to be a rise in the use of drying oils, either in the form of an additive layer over a proteinaceous one or in the form of a single layer binder. The 17th century establishes the use of emulsions, until the 18th century where the. use of drying oils prevails. This unexpected sequence of changes was repeated through all the schools studied, it seems reproducible through each series of samples and is not being influenced by other considerations. The results of this research led to one main conclusion: Western Europe did affect the icon painters. It gave them the examples and the materials for them to free themselves and move on to more contemporary styles. Only a fraction of the data obtained has 'been published. The results of this study may have thrown some light onto this dark transitional period of the Hellenic art, but as research never ends, new questions have been born, for scientists to answer.

The icon represents a great part of the heritage of Christian arts in Egypt. In this thesis the early stages of iconic art are studied to find out the influential factors leading to the formation of the icon as it is now. The Coptic icon in particular is studied, both the icon itself and how it differs from the Byzantine icon. The religious factor is focussed on as an effective and modelling element in defining the icon, and the symbols are studied in order to go back to their historical roots. This study also aims at tracing the phenomenon of iconic art, by studying its characteristics and the works themselves and by clarifiying the iconic symbols as part of the cultural and creative activity. The important artworks in iconic art are analysed, and the effect of iconic art on human and social life is shown

La présente thèse a comme sujet les icônes hagiographiques exécutées du début du XVe à la fin du XVIIe siècle dans l'île de Crète qui était sous domination vénitienne depuis 1210. La prise de Constantinople par les Ottomans en 1453 a privé l'empire byzantin de son centre et la Crète, où plusieurs peintres constantinopolitains se sont réfugiés, a développé, sous leur influence, l'art du chevalet dans des ateliers organisés sur le modèle des ateliers occidentaux. La présente étude inclut 74 icônes de 26 saints. Dans l'introduction, la présentation du sujet est suivie de l'intégration des œuvres dans leur contexte historique et artistique, de la présentation de l'état de la recherche et de J'approche méthodologique. Le texte s'articule en quatre chapitres. Le premier inclut une présentation de la fréquence de l'illustration des saints sur les icônes, de la répartition des œuvres par siècle, de la localisation des peintres connus et des commanditaires d'après des inscriptions dédicatoires. Le deuxième aborde l'évolution de la typologie quant à la disposition du cycle hagiographique du saint par rapport à la représentation centrale, au nombre des compartiments et le rapport avec celui des épisodes illustrés, les modes de délimitation des compartiments et la mise en place des épisodes illustrés. Le troisième chapitre étudie en détail l'évolution de l'iconographie des scènes, de la constitution des cycles et de la diffusion des formules iconographiques, avec comme point de départ les cycles des saints Georges et Nicolas. L'étude de l'évolution iconographique des cycles des toutes les icônes, suivant l'ordre chronologique des œuvres, est abordée dans le quatrième chapitre
The present thesis is about vita icons executed from the beginning of the 15th to the end of the 17th c. on the island of Crete which was under Venetian rule since 1210. The capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 deprived the Byzantine empire of its center and Crete, where several Constantinopolitan painters have taken refuge, has developed, under their influence, the art of the icons painting in workshops organized on the mode] of Western workshops. This study includes 74 icons of 26 saints. ln the Introduction, the presentation of the subject is followed by the integration of the works in their historical and artistic context, the presentation of the state of the research and the methodological approach. The text is divided into 4 chapters. The 1st includes a presentation of the frequency of illustration of saints on icons, the distribution of works by century, the location of known painters and sponsors based on dedicatory inscriptions. The 2nd deals with the evolution of the typology as to the disposition of the hagiographic cycle of the saint in relation to the central representation, the number of compartments and the relationship with that of the illustrated episodes, the modes of delimitation of the compartments and the establishment of the illustrated episodes. The 3d chapter studies in detail the evolution of the iconography of the scenes, the constitution of the cycles and the diffusion of the iconographic formulas, with as starting point the cycles of saints Georges and Nicolas. The study of the evolution of the iconography of the cycles of ail the icons, according to the chronological order of the works, is addressed in the 4th chapter

La present tesi és de naturalesa experimental i explica diferents processos pictòrics, dels quals se n'extreu un cos teòric capaç de convertir-se en transmissor de coneixement. Per tant, és una tesi proveïda d'un marcat caràcter pedagògic. La tesi està molt implicada en el projecte artístic propi, tant, que en darrera instància ho ha dirigit vertebrant-ho. En un primer moment la tesi versava sobre com procedir per pintar “a la manera Flamenca”, manera pictòrica que es caracteritza per treballar el color i la llum de manera indirecta i acumulativa. A mesura que el coneixement sobre la tècnica pictòrica repercutia en la sofisticació amb la qual s'aplicava, malgrat i tota la millorança en l'aplicació de la tècnica, o fins i tot, a causa d'ella i de sa consegüent ampliació en les possibilitats figuratives i expressives, un aspecte essencial romania irresolt. L’aspecte era com procedir amb les eventuals alteracions de la imatge que implica el desenvolupament del fet pictòric. De fet, a mesura que s’avançava en el coneixement pictòric, més es dubtava de la possibilitat del canvi en si mateix, qüestionant fins a quin punt el pintor que utilitza un sistema pictòric indirecte és lliure d'alterar el seu pla d’imatge una vegada assentades les bases de dibuix. Aquest assumpte va acabar sent el nus de la tesi, es podria resumir en una pregunta: Es licit fer alteracions del dibuix inicial si es pinta per sostres pictórics determinants? El fet d'haver desenvolupat la manera pictòrica “a la Flamenca”, desvinculada de tota tradició viva i de manera pràcticament solitària, feia que en alguns moments es tengués por d’estar construint castells de sorra; per tant es necessitava un punt de suport sòlid i irrefutable des d’on poder revisar el sistema, i poder sentenciar sobre les alteracions. Aquest punt em va atreure, i la pintura bizantina va entrar en la meva vida. Primerament vaig aprendre la tècnica de pintura de les Icones a Xipre, successivament vaig desenvolupar una activitat paral•lela a la meva obra personal com iconògraf amb (òbvia) influència recíproca; i finalment, entre la tardor i l'hivern de 2009-10, vaig realitzar un estudi exhaustiu, sistemàtic i documental de la pintura bizantina grega per tal d’extrapolar, pel que fa a alteracions, a “la manera Flamenca”. Cal tenir present que la pintura bizantina crea les seves imatges mitjançant l'acumulació determinant de capes de llum-color, de manera altament organitzada. L'única diferència bàsica entre la pintura bizantina i el sistema pictòric “a la Flamenca” és que aquest darrer segrega en accions separades la llum del color. Les dues metodologies són en definitiva fàcilment equiparables, per tant, exportables en les seves constants processuals. A més, vist i considerat que la pintura bizantina és un sistema viu i que es va practicant ininterrompudament des dels dies en què el Cristianisme era la religió oficial de l'imperi Romà, els anteriors temors solipsistes desapareixen. La pràctica bizantina s'il•lustra —prèvia una breu introducció històrica al tema—, amb l'elaboració documentada de tres exemples d'Icona. Tot tres elaborats en la més estricta tradició bizantina grega escola de Creta, des de la construcció del suport inclús. Juntament amb les Icones, s'hi inclou l'elaboració documental d'una Tixografia o pintura mural bizantina. Amb la finalitat d'ampliar i reafirmar el que dels quatre exemples pràctics es desprèn, la secció bizantina es complementa amb una llarga visualització de la multipossibilitat d'opcions estètiques que intervenen en la creació d'una obra bizantina, a priori tan aparentment fitada i inamovible. L'estudi de les possibilitats en la praxi bizantina aconsegueix en no donar res per assegut, aguditzar la seva percepció i multiplicar-les fins a l'infinit; deixant ben palès fins que punt una obra pictòrica elaborada per capes és complexa en la seva manufactura, necessitada per tant de gran previsió projectual. Del bloc bizantí se n'extreu les següents conclusions: 1- En la pintura bizantina no es donen pràcticament alteracions de la imatge representada. Per corregir errors importants es tapa o s’esborra l'àrea afectada i es comença de bell nou el protocol pictòric. 2- Gràcies a utilitzar com a punt de partida, referent i guia del protocol creatiu una versió completament acabada de la mateixa Icona que s'està gestant, és possible pintar-la de manera unidireccional sense por a equivocar-se. 3- Si es volgués gestar una Icona des de l'escena mateixa, és a dir, generar un prototip, seria necessària una maqueta a escala 1:1 des d'on construir-la. Allà figurarien tots els aspectes de la nova imatge de manera detallada, alhora que el cromatisme i la seva ruta a seguir. Aquesta maqueta és coneguda com a cartró. El cartró que utilitzen regularment els pintors d’Icones contemporanis, és la fotocòpia d'una versió prèvia de la Icona que es pretén pintar. En no existir aquesta possibilitat al proveïment d'un prototip, solament quedarà l'opció de, mitjançant els estudis de dibuix que siguin necessaris, tancar el projecte per endavant. Llavors, a la pregunta de com d’acabat hauria de ser el dibuix preparatori per a un prototip, la resposta seria que hauria d'estar tan acabat com l'obra final. De manera que es podria afirmar que: Dibuix preparatori=resultat pictòric Totes aquestes consideracions es tracten i cristal•litzen en una definició precisa i útil del cartró perfecte per al treball pictòric per capes. Sobre la base del coneixement adquirit amb la pràctica bizantina, i aplicant les consideracions del capítol just acabat d'esmentar, es desenvolupen i s'il•lustren documentalment tres exemples de prototip d'obra pictòrica per capes”a la Flamenca”. Els dos primers exemples se sustenten en un cartró correcte, però solament correcte. En el primer d'ells es té sort en el seu desenvolupament, podent completar la peça sense problemes. En el segon exemple, en canvi, el procés es complica, havent d'improvisar sobre la marxa unes modificacions parcials que tampoc aconseguiran satisfer les necessitats de la imatge. Com a única solució, solament quedarà ampliar en estudis de dibuix a banda, la preparació de la imatge primer, i després incorporar-la a l'obra final, seguint el sistema bizantí correctiu, que és com ja s'ha dit, tapar i recomençar des de l'inici la part afectada. El tercer exemple es construeix sobre la base d'un cartró no correcte com en els dos casos anteriors, sinó perfecte, obtenint un desenvolupament pictòric a l'una. La demostració de la tesi es veu coronada amb la incorporació de dos exemples d'inestimable vàlua, pel definitori en el seu plantejo i desenvolupament. Els exemples estan meticulosament documentats, però amb la seva presència en el llibre final destil•lada, a fi de no fer-los immanejables o incomprensibles. El primer exemple documenta l'elaboració d'una obra complexa sustentada en un cartró premeditadament obert a les hipotètiques variables que el procés pictòric pugui suggerir a la imatge. El resultat pictòric és poc menys que un gran fracàs, una obra densament embafadora, que a més, va exigir un treball exagerat, demostrant els postulats de la tesi. El segon exemple té la particularitat d'utilitzar dos tipus de resolució diferents en el cartró per a sengles àrees diferenciades de l'obra. Un d'ells és correcte, l'altre és perfecte. El resultat pictòric final demostra que com millor sigui el cartró per a una obra pictòrica per capes, millor invariablement serà aquesta. Amb la intenció d'il•lustrar el procés de destil•lació d'una imatge preparatòria, tres exemples més d'obra personal completen la tesi. Els dos primers exemples recullen raonadament els esbossos per a obra de petit format, sobre paper i a l'aquarel•la. El tercer exemple, bastant més ambiciós, comprèn el material preparatori per a una futura obra pictòrica de gran envergadura, encara en procés de gestació. La tesi, arribant al final dels sistemes pictòrics per capes, afirma el següent: 1- En el dibuix preparatori s'ha d'experimentar l'èxtasi creatiu de la futura peça. És a dir, el nus de l'obra es resol en el cartró, restant el treball pictòric en el suport últim com una activitat dirigida i programada des del primer, desproveïda sobretot de suspens i incògnites. 2- Qualsevol alteració en l'obra pictòrica concebuda per capes s’haurà de considerar com quelcom precari, per tant, les correccions no formen part del procés natural creatiu, sinó que en són una tara. 3- No solament el dibuix preliminar o cartró ha d'estar detallat fins al màxim, sinó que aquest s'haurà de transcendir de manera precisa en bolcar-ho al suport últim, ja que el treball pictòric es desenvolupa sempre de particular a general i no a l'inrevés com podria semblar en un principi.
The thesis “Icon & Reality: Cartoon as an essential element in paint layers” deals with the problem of preparatory work in paint layers. It should emphasize on strong experimental nature of research, which is mainly focused on practical and pedagogical application. The thesis is based on the idea of developing and analyzing the old Flemish painting technique, nowadays abandoned, but in a natural and necessary way it flowed until got focused on one of its specific aspects, the apparent lack of technique’s capacity for corrections, while the image is pictorially constructed. Therefore, the key question that summarizes the thesis is: Relevant changes are or are not possible in an image while this is pictorially constructed by an indirect method, as might be the Flemish. The initial work to study the subject interweaves with other similar spiritual subject – Byzantine painting – an artistic form with regular practice in large parts of Europe still today. By comparing both working ways, circumstantial aspects tend to fade and then is easier to get clear and understand the essence of the image constructed by addition of paint layers. The author creates, search and collects a generous number of examples in both mentioned above pictorial techniques. The examples are extended in two more types of paintings, one using third painting technique also imbued with similar problems, and another getting focused in exclusively drawings’ aspects. Of all the experimental material, a number of conclusions regarding the preparatory, general and procedural implementation work are extracted in the following summary. The ecstasy of the creative work should be experienced through preparatory drawings. That is, the climax of the painting must be developed on the cartoon reminding the consequent pictorial work in the strict support as a drawing’s programmed and directed task. No suspense or unknown activity must be in the specifically painting work. Any correction in painting of the original projected drawn image should be considered as something precarious, as a tare. The preliminary drawing or cartoon should be detailed to the max, and, be transferred accurately in its complexity to the ultimate format.
La tesis “Icono y Realidad: El Cartón como elemento esencial a la pintura por capas” versa sobre la problemática preparatoria de la pintura por capas determinante. Cabe destacar del trabajo de investigación su marcado carácter experimental, orientado sobre todo a la aplicación práctica y pedagógica. La tesis, partiendo en un principio de la idea de desarrollar a la práctica una técnica pictórica en desuso hoy, como es la Flamenca, acaba centrándose de manera natural y necesaria en uno de sus aspectos concretos; su hipotética falta de capacidad aparente para obrar correcciones mientras se construye el cuerpo pictórico. La pregunta clave que resume la Tesis sería la siguiente: ¿Son posibles las alteraciones relevantes de la imagen que se construya utilizando a una metodología pictórica indirecta, como podría ser la Flamenca? El trabajo inicial sujeto a estudio se imbrica con otra de talante semejante, la pintura Bizantina, cuya praxis regular aún pervive en amplias zonas de Europa. El motivo es conseguir —mediante la comparación— borrar lo circunstancial y llegar a la esencia de las imágenes construidas por adicción de estratos pictóricos. El propio autor realiza y recoge testimonio documental de una generosa cantidad de ejemplos en las dos técnicas pictóricas ya mencionadas. Ejemplos que se extienden en dos tipologías mas; unos elaborados desde una tercera técnica pictórica imbuida de problemática similar, y otros centrándose exclusivamente en los aspectos de dibujo. De todo el material experimental se extrae una serie de conclusiones respecto al trabajo preparatorio, genéricas y de aplicación procesual que en resumen son las siguientes: 1- En el dibujo preparatorio debe experimentarse el extasis creativo de la futura obra. Es decir, el nudo de la obra se desarrolla sobre el carton; siendo el consiguiente trabajo pictorico en el soporte último una actividad dirigida y programada desde el primero, sin suspense ni incognitas. 2- Cualquier corrección de la imagen original de la pieza pictorica por capas se deberá considerar como algo precario, como una tara. 3- El dibujo preliminar o cartón debe estar detallado al máximo, y ser traspasado al formato último de manera precisa y preciosista, so pena de perder todo lo estudiado en el primero.

The thesis interprets the icon Transfiguration by Theofan the Greek. It collects the information needed for the interpretation. The first part is devoted to the meaning of a religious picture - an icon in the context of historical development of Byzantine art and Christian thinking. It presents Theofan the Greek as the author of the icon and the doctrine about the uncreated nature of the Light of Tabor, that emerged in his time and might have influenced his work. The second part is devoted to the nterpretation of the Transfiguration icon. It consist of an explication of the biblical texts which are related to the Transfiguration and reflects other possible resources of depiction: apocryphal texts and liturgy. The conclusion of the thesis holds the interpretation of the icon.

An outline of the history of mural and icon-painting in Novgorod demonstrates that the pictorial references in icons to church constructions, interiors, and their mural decorations had a long-standing tradition in Novgorod. Over time, these references became more and more explicit, so that they identified the Christian Church recognizably and exclusively with Byzantine Orthodoxy. The first half of the chapter analyses church decoration and the second icon-painting of Novgorod, thus seeking to explore the direct iconographic roots of the Wisdom icon. The chapter discusses the meaning of the prepared throne (Hetoimasia) in the Novgorod Sophia image, its light symbolism, and the development of anti-Latin ecclesiological iconographies in Novgorod.

The article examines image of feats of repentance in the Ladder and in the hagiographic icon of John Climacus. The ascetic composition of the Byzantine Saint John Scholasticus The Ladder of Heaven has a rich history of embodiment in old Russian painting. The original type of iconography, born of the Ladder, are the scenes of monastic exploits in the monastery-dungeon, described in the Word 5 On Repentance. A developed cycle of images of repentance scenes of monastic recluses surrounds mullion of the recognized masterpiece of the last third of the 16th century — the icon Vision of St. John of the Ladder with 24 Stamps of Life and Exploits from the collection of the Rybinsk Museum-Reserve. The purpose of study is to trace in this rare monument nature and features of translation of the fifth chapter of the Ladder from literary to pictorial language. The tasks of studying an icon are to determine its closest iconographic and stylistic analogies and protographs in frescoes, icons, miniatures. This will clarify the dating and attribution of the icon. Using a method of comparative analysis of text and image, a method of iconographic and stylistic comparisons, an iconological method, author finds parallels between hagiography and iconography. A consistent comparison of the icon’s brands with similar scenes of monks’ repentance in the fresco of the western gallery of the Annunciation Cathedral of Moscow Kremlin (1508–1564) and in the miniatures of the manuscript Ladder of the 1520s–1530s from the RSL (Russian State Library) proves the obvious close acquaintance of the icon’s author with these monuments of metropolitan origin. The uniqueness of iconography and elitism of icon’s writing lead to the conclusion that it was written by a Moscow isographer by royal order, probably as an image of the patron saint of prince Ivan, the son of Ivan the Terrible.

Iconography of the Ukrainian diaspora is an important component of Ukrainian (Western Ukrainian) canonical sacred art. Genetically, the iconography of the Ukrainian diaspora is based on the principles of Byzantine iconography, which included the color canon, the compositional canon and the canon of proportions, which performed important functions in Byzantine art. Ukrainian artists of the diaspora, adhering to the Byzantine iconographic canon, believed that it brings to the art information of utilitarian, historical and narrative plan. Scientific intelligence is devoted to these issues. The purpose of the section is to analyze the preservation of the iconographic canon in the sacred art of artists of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. It is necessary to consider the Byzantine iconographic rules, which serve as an artistic scheme for the creation of Christological, Mariological and festive themes in the iconography presented in the temples of ethnic minorities. Using the principles of Byzantine aesthetics, the diaspora artists of Ukrainian origin (Petro Kholodny Jr, Sviatoslav Hordynsky, Juvenal Mokrytsky and Khrystyna Dokhvat) managed to preserve the ancient Eastern Christian tradition of cult painting. The art of the above-mentioned artists is based on strict artistic rules recognized by the official Church after the Trullian Council (691-692), the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) and the «Triumph of Orthodoxy», associated with decisions to introduce the dogma of icon worship in Constantinople Council (843). Preservation of the iconographic canon in the Ukrainian diaspora is a manifestation of the ancient Christian artistic spirit, which determined the types of major saints. The principles of the iconographic canon used in the painting of the Ukrainian diaspora also substantiated the location of the main gospel scenes in certain places on the walls of Christian religious buildings.

The second ‘Image’ part of the book places the Wisdom image in the context of late Byzantine and medieval Russian art, and investigates the validity of the claims of the first ‘Word’ part about the meaning of the Novgorod Sophia icon. This chapter surveys two major sophiological themes of medieval Russian painting with a female or genderless figure of Wisdom: ‘Wisdom has built her house’ illustrating Proverbs 9:1–5 and the representations of Evangelists inspired by Wisdom. These iconographies appeared in late fourteenth-century Novgorod painting for the first time and are apparently intertwined. The link between them is created by the Sophiology of the fourth-century church father, Athanasius of Alexandria who distinguishes between two—created and uncreated—wisdoms which are distinct but united in the Person of Christ. However, this Novgorodian interest in representations of Sophia was driven primarily not by Christological debates, but by the fact that Novgorod’s main church, built between 1045 and 1050, is dedicated to St Sophia, the Wisdom of God.

Agapia Monastery – the remarkable Moldavian monastery painted by Nicolae Grigorescu – has a precious heritage of icons, books and documents, liturgical textiles, goldsmithing. Among these, the main place is occupied by the icons painted in the XV-XIX centuries, either in post-Byzantine style, in tempera technique, or in realistic style, in oil technique. Some icons from the XVIII-XIX centuries have been preserved and restored in the Icon Restoration laboratory of the Faculty of Theology in Iaşi. In time, the icons kept in the storage of the Monastery Museum have suffered of degradation caused both by the deficient author’s technique and by the exogenous, biotic and abiotic factors. The wooden supports of some icons were severely degraded by the attack of xylophagous insects, being affected both the mechanical resistance and the appearance of the wood. The numerous galleries immediately below the pictorial layer determined its deformation. The pictorial layer of some icons was degraded mainly due to the errors of the painters’ work technique: very thin and fragile preparation layer or excessive binder, which led to the formation of accentuated early cracks. The appearance of the icons was affected either by the chromatic alteration of the protective varnish, or by the deposits of dust and soot in the atmosphere. The interventions for the conservation of the icons consisted in biociding the painting support and in consolidating the pictorial layer detached from the wooden support. The restoration of the icons aimed at removing the dirt deposits from the painting by physico-chemical means, filling the gaps in the icons and their chromatic integration, with easily reversible materials. After conservation and restoration, the icons returned to the Agapia Monastery for use.

Milan Kašanin (1895–1981) in his integral study of medieval Serbian culture pays significant attention to the works and authors who created in the time of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin Nemanjića (1282–1321). Kašanin’s analysis also includes medieval literary and artistic achievements whose central theme is the King's personality and symbols of rule, as well as the spiritual and socio-histor- ical characteristics of the era the era of this important founder and great artistic patron. The author of the monographs Serbian Literature in the Middle Ages (1975) and Stone Discoveries (1978) seeks to systematize knowledge of the cul- tural past, to explain the spiritual and historical forces of the time, to understand Byzantine influences on art forms and meanings, to find elements of original art within medieval Serbian culture and to establish the most reliable periodization of literary and artistic styles. Methodologically, in examining the key focuses of a historically limited period, such as the Middle Ages, Kašanin insists on mutual “illumination of art”. He also connects the poetic and spiritual-aesthetic features of specific literary achievements with medieval church and secular architecture, fresco painting or icon painting, but also with socio-political factors. Therefore, we tried to outline the analytical and methodological framework of Kašanin’s spiritual, historical, and aesthetic thought from the point of view of the history of literary criticism, concerning the way in which he had perceived and named the artistic forms of Milutin’s epoch, art forms in which Milutin’s age and literary achievements of monk Theodosius and archbishop Danilo II.

The subject of this paper is the motif of the stone slab (cheirograph) in the scene of Baptism in Serbian medieval monumental painting and on icons on which Christ stands and under which he suppresses serpent-like monsters: its iconography, literary sources and meaning (ill. 5). The article represents the first study of the issue of cheirograph in Baptism scenes in Serbian medieval art from its beginning until the end of the art done in the Byzantine tradition (1800). It provides the survey of the chosen examples of this motif and explains the nuances in the meaning of both the Baptism scene itself and its relation to the painted decorations of each monument (ill. 1–4, 6–9). Special attention is given to the motif of the stone slab in the church of Saint Nikita in Skoplje, the foundation of king Milutin (built: 1299/1300 –1308; decorated with frescoes: around 1324; 1484; 1846).

ON THE EARLIEST TOPOGRAPHY OF THE SEVEN SAINTS CULT (Summary) The current research traces and summarizes the information about the historical persons from the circle of the Seven Saints, paying special attention to the distinction between mention, enumeration and grouping. Various historical evidences are examined as focal memory points of a conjoint cult of the Seven Saints – some of them are literature sources – the Prologue life of St. John Vladimir (1690), the Berat liturgy for Seven Saints (c. 1720) and the Moschopol liturgy for Seven Saints (1742), other sources are artefacts – eight wall paintings, three icons, a carved medallion and three reliquaries. Based on the mentioned sources, the earliest topography of the Seven Saints cult is outlined, and the individual monuments are presented in their geographical, cultural-historical, and architectural context. There is an emphasis on the fact that the historical evidences of the early stage of the propagation of the Seven Saints cult derive from a relatively limited geographical area – the lands of the Berat diocese and its immediate surroundings. The images from Dratcha monastery (1735) and from the church “St. Prophet Elijah” in Siatista (1744) are rather exceptions. As a conclusion, it is noticed that the language of the entire described tradition, including both the three written monuments and the numerous images and artefacts, is Greek. This tradition cannot yet be recognized as a genuine Bulgarian national initiative of the revival type, but rather is a regional post-Byzantine cult that arose in the southwestern regions of the Ochrid Archdiocese in a multi-ethnic environment with a dominant cultural Hellenism. The artefacts preserved to present days, which are probably only a part of those actually created, testify to the inclusion of the Seven Saints in the sacral pantheon of the Ochrid Archdiocese, thereby raising its ecclesiastical authority and supporting its historical pretensions to canonical independence. The tendencies observed in the perspective of the cult development in the second half of the 19th century are the gradual transfer to the east and northeast to the lands of Macedonia, more compactly populated with Bulgarians, and the appearance of images bringing to the fore the creation of the Bulgarian alphabet.