"Image and Icon" by Dom Alex Echeandía at Belmont Abbey (Int.)

Retreat on Icons 

on 30^th August 2013

SESSION ONE 

How to participate in the mystery of faith?

       a)    Why does Christian art exist? – Incarnation –                II Council of Nicea

       b)   Meaning of Icons

       c)    Roots of Iconography

      A work of art is a new creation. It manifests an organic unity. The artist strives to so unite the different elements that a new reality comes into being, something greater than its parts, something that bestows richness and purpose on all the elements that make it up. This is true of icons as  well as all other kinds of art.  So, what is the difference between Christian works of art and other works of art? It introduces another transcendent dimension to the image which is seen in the light of Christ. It gives people a new way of seeing things, in faith and meditation within Christian spirituality.

Christian art requires first the use of the most advanced artistic techniques and artistic talent in the execution of the work. Together with the skills of the craftsman, Christian art also receives from Tradition its Christian content. Christian Tradition is the interior life of the Church, born out of the harmonious cooperation between the Holy Spirit and the faith experience of the Church, and is itself the extension of God’s incarnation.  Thus, Christian art first began during the centuries of persecution at the very beginning of Christianity.   In the same Tradition, Christian art received new life from the dogmatic deliberations of the great ecumenical councils. Tradition combines with Sacred Scripture that it interprets to provide material for sacred art., Thus it is rooted in the very heart of our faith.

Images of God, as you know, were prohibited in Deuteronomy. Many believe that they are still against God’s Law and that using them in prayer is a form of idolatry. How can one make an image of the Invisible God? How can one represent the One who has no quantity, height or limits? In fact, not all figurative representation was prohibited in the Old Testament. There was the bronze serpent[1] and the ordinances concerning the cherubim in the ark[2]: “For the two ends of this throne of mercy you are to take two golden cherubs, you are to make them of beaten gold”.  So, the Jewish world, showed a certain tolerance towards images.[3]

Mosaic Floor (517-528 AD) Beth Alpha Synagogue,   discovered  in 1922 in the Northern District of Israel. 

Scene of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his bound son Isaac

In fact, for a Christian the Incarnation of God in Mary, brought about a new situation,  a new reality, a New Creation. As St Paul says, Christ is the image of the invisible God.[4] Thus, for us Christians there should be no problem using images of God as signs of our faith because God has provided us with the Image of all images. John Damascene against iconoclasm declared: “I don’t adore the matter, but the Creator of the matter who became matter for me, and through this matter I was saved.” The incorporeal one became man for you. So, it is possible to make his human image. By Christ becoming man, one may see the image of the one who was seen by the Apostles in human features.

Damascene was a very important figure in the difficult time of iconoclasm, when there was a misunderstanding related to images. Iconoclasm means rejection or destruction of religious images seen as heretical. It involved religious icons, symbols or monuments.  Iconoclasm was motivated by people who adopted a literal interpretation of Scriptures texts which forbids the making and worshipping of "graven images or any likeness of anything"[5]

                                      

Fresco destroyed in Cappadocia

Iconoclasm appeared in the Byzantine Empire during the 8th and 9th centuries. Since Constantine was converted and declare Christianity the religion of the Empire, images were allowed to represent Jesus Christ or other important figures of Christianity. The iconoclasts viewed the use of icons as pagan idolatry and therefore wanted to remove them from Christian worship. They also believed that the icons might be Nestorian.   According to their view, art can only depict the human nature of Jesus, leaving undepicted his divine nature, thus separating these two natures which, in fact, are united in One Person.[6] If the icons portrayed only the human side of Jesus, they could not help but promote a Nestorian Christianity as opposed to the true Christianity.

From a manuscript Psalter 68, Constantinople 843

The II Council of Nicaea in 878, the seventh of the ecumenical councils, restored the use and veneration of images.[7] This council used texts from Scriptures and the Fathers and proved that the veneration of images was legitimate. The central truth of the Council was focused on the honour given to images. They receive veneration (proskinesis), and not worship (latria), which is reserved for God alone. What is more, images are not the ultimate object of veneration because the image only has a reality in relation to the object represented. The image is the reflection of the prototype, Christ; the veneration is transformed into worship. Thus iconoclasm was condemned as heresy and liturgical veneration of images was re-established. Monks in the East played an important role in its restoration.

Now, when we talk on the subject of images, we need to refer to icons, frescoes, mosaics, oil paintings as well minor arts. Here let us concentrate in what an icon means. What is the essence of an icon? What are its roots?

The word icon comes from Greek εἰκών eikōn "image" It also means likeness, reflection. When you look at your mirror and look at yourself it is also an icon.  Thus this word has different meanings.[8] However, when we refer to images of Christ and the Saints we can call them the “holy icons”.[9]  This image or reflection we find in the icons. St Steven the New[10] in the 8^th century call the icon a “door”. It is a way to enter, to access the age to come; it is a way to encounter, to meet with the communion of Saints. As a door, the icon fulfills a mediating function. It makes person and events present to us: Christ, Our Lady, the Saints. Through the icon we participate in the mystery that is depicted. So icon means presence. 

Some people call it a window, from which one can see. A door is something through which we pass and we can become part of what is on the other side of the door. The door can also permit someone on the other side to come to us; and, in an icon, Christ can come to us from the heavenly kingdom in order to meet us face to face.  The icon makes the person present to us.

The icon is seen from three aspects:  artistic, theological and liturgical   An icon is a work of art, with human and natural qualities. At a higher level, the icon has a theological meaning that teaches the people of God. Finally it is used in a liturgical context because the icon exists in an atmosphere of prayer and worship. Out of this context of prayer it loses its meaning, because, principally, it is sacramental, a sign that makes what is holy present. The Eucharist makes Christ present in the bread and wine after the consecration. At a different level, paint and board make Christ and saints present to us. By itself the icon does not become Christ as in the Eucharist, but it reveals the presence of Christ and His Saints in a special way. Icons reflect the reality of the incarnation. The iconographer uses wood and paint from God’s creation by which God’s glory is presented in a new way: thus is the world offered back to God.

In addition, the icon is a product of Tradition that is formed within different cultures and styles. The icon, as well as the Early Christian art, did not develop in a vacuum. It is a result of a concrete evolution, and different cultures have contributed to its historical evolution. So, we can mention three main roots that have made the icon what it is today.

From the ancient culture of Egypt icons received a profound sense of presence. Egyptian art normally shows calm men and women acting from an inner calm to express piety, family affection and social harmony. This is exemplified in the Elousia icon, which takes the ‘family affection’ prized by the Egyptians into a new dimension. Egyptian art is based on the hieroglyph, which like Chinese writing expresses primarily an idea that the writer intended to convey. The icon expresses specific information and is immediately recognizable by its form. In the icon the child is a miniature adult, and it is noteworthy that the reason given here is to draw attention to the fully human quality of the child.  This can be contrasted with a modern attitude that justifies abortion on the grounds that the unborn child is not fully human. (An example of this type that came to Christian art and iconography is the example of “Mother & child” 1470 BC).[11]

  

Egyptian canon to depict an image was very influential in iconography. A Egyptian figure found in the tomb of a priest shows how they measure out the dimensions of the body which had not changed since 1900 BC. The image of the body remained.[12]

In practice, icons received a lot from the Egyptian art. Gesso was used for the mask to cover bodies from the earliest period (c. 2,000 B.C.). The gesso was made from glue and whiting, as today, and often polished to a very smooth finish. The surface was pointed in dense colours from a limited palette, or covered with gold leaf. Flat colour and simple natural tones were characteristic; the emphasis was on pure simple unmixed colour. Low relief carving as with icons was an important form of art. Workshops were under the direction of an educated supervisor, familiar with several crafts, able to recognise an inferior standard of work and to correct errors. Many similarities can be seen between this approach to sacred art and the later approach of the Christian icon.

From the pagan Greeks the image possessed a mystical character. Statues of Athena and Artemis of Ephesus were said to be not made by human hands and to have fallen from heaven. These images were decorated with flowers and were venerated through a rite of unction.[13] We may say that the head of Medusa was a pagan model that Christians may have used to depict the person and the effectiveness that its holds.  Artistic inspiration came from different sources that for us can be difficult to make understand, but for the first Christians it was a new way of looking at things. 

In the Roman world images played a special role. They were also influenced by the Greek culture. The portrait of the ruler was worshipped as cult objects. They were honored as gods. Under special circumstances, the image of the emperor became a legal substitute; it was a vicarious presence of the emperor himself.  If the portrait of the emperor was present in court, the judge could decide a case as if it were the Caesar himself. It was also seen when the cities offered the keys to the emperor as a sign of submission. The keys were given to another person but in the presence of the emperor’s image. It was considered legal. The theory behind icons still remains as it was from the time of the Romans. Another element we find in icons is the halo. It is argued that Mithras was the origin of the halo around the head of Christ and the Saints. The Roman god Mithras was always shown with a halo, and this symbol was adopted by the Christian Church to signify the concept of divinity in sacred images.

          

Thus, the development of iconography and other Christian art was rooted in different cultures and traditions and took from them what can express the faith of the believers.

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[1] Cf. Numbers 21:4-9

[2] Cf. Exodus 25:18

[3] A good example is found in the discovering of Synagogues in Israel.

[4] Cor.1:15

[5] "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them." (Exodus 20:4-5a)

[6] Shown in the Pantocrator  icon

[7] It had been suppressed by imperial edict inside the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Leo III (717–741)

[8] Narcisus saw his face on reflected on the water; he saw his icon.

[9] Kallistos Ware refers to it in his lecture given at an Orientale Lumine session. See:  http://www.oltvweb.com

[10] From Constantinople, he died under torture and beatings. Finally, Emperor Leo gave orders to lock up the saint in prison, and to destroy his monastery. Iconoclast bishops were sent to St Stephen in prison, trying to persuade him of the dogmatic correctness of the Iconoclast position, but the saint easily refuted all the arguments.

[11] Cf.  ‘Egyptian Art’ by Cyril Aldred. It depicts Senemut nursing princess Nofrure.

[12] In the unfinished tomb of a priest called Ramose, his brother was the Pharaoh’s chief artist.  It shows exact squares in red lines. The figure was 19squares tall. The feet were 2 ½ squares long. The pupil was 1 square of the centre line. This is why the style remained unchanged for so long. Egyptian society did not want to change. The society was driven by stability and order reflecting the cultural values.

[13] Egon Sendler, The Icon, p. 9.

Israel's Motley Mosaics: A discovery of a fantastic ancient floor in the Negev

Israel's Motley Mosaics

By Miriam Feinberg Vamosh    | May.21, 2013 | 12:36 PM

The discovery earlier this month of yet another spectacular mosaic floor in the Negev near Kibbutz Beit Kama is the opportunity to consider a “flying [mosaic] carpet”- themed itinerary. You can include stops at dozens of these marvellous, meticulous creations, some almost 16 centuries old.

The mosaics, most of which were installed in ancient churches and synagogues, told Bible stories, extolled donors, beautified the experience of faith and even educated people.

Most of these mosaics are brimming with human and animal figures, some fanciful, some realistic; some from Jewish tradition and some, like the pagan sun god Helios galloping across the sky, borrowed from other cultures. When the first synagogue mosaic in the country was discovered (now on display at Beit Alpha National Park) in the 1920's, scholars were amazed to discover that it was full of human and animal images – ostensibly prohibited by the Second Commandment. But scholars now tell us that Jewish thought of the day allowed such depictions – as long as they were not going to be worshipped, and that they are part of a tradition stretching across the region in the Byzantine period, which spanned the fourth–seventh centuries.

To catch several mosaics at once, visit the Inn of the Good Samaritan’s mosaic museum, where the Israel Nature and Parks Authority has also set up a shelter for pilgrims to hold mass at the site of a sixth-century church, including, of course, a mosaic floor. For individual mosaics, below are some of the most beautiful of the many colorful and intricate mosaics floors open to the public at sites you can weave into your itinerary:

More Negev Mosaics

The church mosaic uncovered at Kibbutz Beit Kama is one of several all over the Negev, dating back to the time when Christian pilgrims crisscrossed that region. In the northern Negev, near Kibbutz Nirim (off of road 241 or 242) is another beautiful “stone carpet.” Restored by the Jewish National Fund, this sixth-century mosaic on the ancient site of Maon, like many ancient synagogue and church mosaics, features an inscription mentioning the names of the donors (some things never change) as well as intricate depictions of agricultural motifs such as grape-harvesting and brimming baskets of fruit, animal and birds.

One of many stunning mosaics found in Tzippori

(To visit the first of these ever discovered, the sixth-century Shellal mosaic, will require a little more fuel than a trip to the Negev – after its discovery during World War I it was eventually taken to Canberra, Australia, where it is on display at the war museum there.)

Go North

Birds are a common motif in mosaic floors, and in fact, have given their name to the Bird Mosaic of Caesarea. Some of them, like storks and pelicans, still cross Israel’s skies. Others are fanciful or humorous, road-runner style. Around them are wild animals and repeating geometric patterns that would put an Amish quilting bee to shame. The Bird Mosaic is clearly signposted, on the way to the aqueduct in Caesarea. It is special in that it is not from a church or a synagogue, but rather from a room in the villa of a wealthy Byzantine-era Caesarean.

Most mosaics are famed for the detail of their depictions of animals, plants and human figures. But the beauty of the mosaics at Mamshit National Park, which contains two churches, is in their simplicity. A rare depiction in Byzantine Christian art of a cross on the floor of the eastern churches reveals its antiquity, since after the 427 CE crosses were prohibited as floor decorations.

Other Christian artistic and religious symbols include fish, and peacocks which can be found on the mosaic floor of the Byzantine church at Horvat Midras, southwest of Jerusalem, not far from Beit Guvrin National Park. Ancient pilgrims apparently marked the tomb of the prophet Zechariah at the site. This magnificent mosaic was discovered in 2011 – “thanks” to an illegal dig by antiquities robbers.

The Israel Antiquities Authority subsequently mounted an excavation, unearthing the floor featuring depictions of animals. Complex geometric patterns create beautiful frames on this floor.

Birds also appear in the mosaic floor of the ancient synagogue at Ein Gedi near the Dead Sea, whose dominant colors seem to mimic the surrounding desert scenery – shades of beige and brown, with green highlights, recalling the oasis home of the community that built it. Like other synagogues the mosaic reveals that the community was wealthy enough to pay the designer, the mosaic master and his extensive team – no small outlay, as you’ll learn at the charming audiovisual presentation at Beit Alfa National Park’s mosaic.

In the case of Ein Gedi, the wealth came from the cultivation of balsam, used in cosmetics and medicines. Because producing these products was so lucrative, it was apparently kept under close wraps. The long inscription in its synagogue mosaic brings down a curse on anyone who reveals the “secret” – presumably the coveted, eyes-only balsam recipe.

Some mosaic artisans outdid themselves in human depictions. Not everyone approved of such depictions, because some of them, like the sun god Helios or the signs of the Zodiac, were pagan or had been adapted by Christians. In fact, at one point in the history of the synagogue in Tiberias (Hamat Tverya National Park), the building was renovated, including a wall right across the beautiful floor, obviously to hide what some new building committee considered offensive.

At Beit Alfa National Park, discovered back in the 1920s, you’ll find an entire Bible story depicted in stone– the Binding of Isaac, right down to the altar, Abraham holding the knife, and a hand emerging from a cloud, with the first words of the fateful verse: “Lay not thy hand upon the lad” (Gen. 22:12).

Here and elsewhere people are amazed to find they can recognize some of the ancient Jewish symbols. Flanking the mosaic depiction of the doors of the Holy Ark is the seven-branched candelabrum, one of Judaism’s most enduring symbols, as well as a shofar, lulav and etrog. The only symbol most people can’t quite make out is the incense pan, which, like the candelabrum and the shofar, commemorated worship at the Jerusalem Temple, long destroyed by the time these mosaics were created.

At Tzippori National Park, you’ll find the mosaic-as-story reaching new heights. The Binding of Isaac is there, too, but alongside the sacrificial scene a remnant of the mother of the “offering” – Sarah – appears. The story continues up the mosaic to the Zodiac, where, as in many other synagogue mosaics, the names appear in Hebrew.

The four seasons are also shown, named and bearing their appropriate symbols, such as a bowl of grapes for summer or water for the rainy winter season. These were educational devices, scholars tell us, dating from a time when what some consider “merely” astrology today was a scientific pursuit. In the Tzippori mosaic, the design includes the symbol of the sun, often associated in Psalms with redemption, as well as the Temple symbols. The entire story reminded worshippers that redemption, first promised to Abraham, would shine like the sun, and the Temple would be rebuilt.

At Susya, in the southern Hebron Hills (reached from road 31 in the northern Negev) lies another synagogue floor replete with Jewish symbols. Here, too apparently the synagogue board decided to replace their Zodiac with a more “conservative” geometric pattern. The Bible story here depicts Daniel in the lion’s den.



Finally, the relatively simple mosaic at the Herodian Mansions in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter may be among the most poignant in Israel. It once decorated a Jewish home during the Second Temple period, when even King Herod observed the Jewish law proscribing human or animal images. What this mosaic with its simple geometric pattern lacks in color and designs compared to others, it makes up in the history it brings alive: on it are the charred remains of a wooden beam that fell from the mansion’s ceiling and burned itself to cinder on the floor, together with the rest of the magnificent Jewish homes of Jerusalem’s Upper City one month after the Temple’s destruction in 70 CE.

An Application in Turkey to turn the Church of Hagia Sophia from Museum to Mosque

       

        A parliamentary commission in Turkey is considering an application by the citizens to turn the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. It may affect the Istanbul's mega-tourist attraction, as well as other Turkish historical sites. As we know, the Church of Hagia Sophia in the small town of Trabzon  has served for the past 50 years as a museum for 13-century art and artefacts under the direction of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

                               

The claim in the court is that at the moment Hagia Sophia is an "illegal occupation", and that the building was "originally covenanted" as a mosque. The request to change the status of Hagia Sophia is supported by application given to 401 people, in which more than 97 percent of interviewees requested the transformation of the ancient building into a mosque and afterwards for it to be reopened for Muslim worship. The application has been taken under consideration by the Parliament’s Petition Commission.

This is not the first time that a museum comes back to be a place of prayer. In 2010, Christians secured the right to hold religious services for pilgrims in St. Paul's Church in Tarsus, nearly 70 years after the church was re-purposed as a museum.This case can be used for those who support the change in order to proceed with their proposal.

There is no word yet whether the plan to convert the museum into a mosque will involve preserving or masking the Christian art that adorns the walls. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, Hagia Sophia Museum served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. Following the city’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire, the building turned into a mosque in 1453 and remained so until 1931, when it was closed to the public. For four years later, it was reopened by the republican authorities in 1935 as a museum.

The whole situation could be bad news for Istanbul's famous Hagia Sophia. The Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate supports the continued use of the historical Hagia Sophia in Trabzon as a museum. The argument is that there is not an urgent need of a mosque, also because there is no a proper community of faithful there. They suggest that the best way is to keep the church as a museum.

However, if Hagia Sophia opens up as a place for prayers, it also may be possible for Christians to hold ceremonies there. DailyNews comments on it in an interview with Dositheos Anagnostopulos, the Patriarchate’s press officer. He told them when he was asked  if the Patriarchate would demand to hold ceremonies in Hagia Sophia as well. To it, Anagnostopulos said that if the ministry permitted it and the Orthodox community desired it, this would be their duty, not only a desire.

HAGIA SOPHIA, ISTAMBUL

Hagia Sophia is also known throughout the world as   Ἁγία Σοφία, Holy Wisdom, Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia. It used to be the Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. 

The Church was dedicated to the Logos, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Its dedication feast taking place on December 25, the anniversary of the Incarnation of the Logos in Christ, the Nativity. Although it is sometimes referred to as Sancta Sophia (as though it were named after Saint Sophia), sophia is the phonetic spelling in Latin of the Greek word for wisdom - the full name in Greek being Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, "Church of the Holy Wisdom of God".

The basilica is famous in particular for its massive dome and it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It is said to have "changed the history of architecture." It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site. It was designed by Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician.

CHORA MUSEUM ISTANBUL from istanbulcityguide.com on Vimeo.