Lesson 4: Looking at Icons, Iconostasion & Festal Icons

Last week we began learning about and constructing our classroom nave.  Remember that the nave is where the faithful assemble in worship. All around us in the nave are God’s Saints, and as we’ve seen, Jesus Christ Himself. 

 With all the use we make of icons, we really need to understand some things better about them. Icons aren’t just art and decoration, they are used in many different ways:

·         Enhance the beauty of the Church to impress holiness

·         To instruct us in the Orthodox Christian faith

·         To remind us of our faith

·         To show us examples of holy life

·         To urge us to live in these examples

·         To help us change us

·         For worship of God and to glorify His holy Saints

  Basically we believe icons to be “windows into heaven” by showing us many worthy things. In other ways we can think of them as pictures of family.  Jesus told us that we are all “sons of God” through our Baptism in Christ. That makes the Saints part of our family and we all keep pictures of family, right?

Things to Notice

Faces

Have you ever noticed that all the holy people in icons are always looking at you? That’s not by chance.  You will rarely if ever see less than three quarters of their face. In Scripture we read many accounts of holy people’s facing glowing, so the reason is Biblical.

Similarities

When you look at icons you will usually be able to tell who people are. This is because after centuries of practice, painters of icons have developed certain ways of painting. The forms you see are not an accident, though you’ll notice that it looks very different than most “art” you see. After over 1,400 years the artists have developed “prefect” ways of expressing an icon’s holy message.

Colors

Icons are never brightly colored, you might even say they are reserved (though not dull). The choice of colors reflects inner-control, just as we need to follow Christ. Although the prospect of salvation through Christ is the most joyous thing anyone might think about, the self-control needed to get there is best expressed in the way these colors are selected.

Halo’s

Around the head of Christ, the Theotokos, Angels and Saints there is always a circular halo. The halo is meant to show holiness and draws attention to their face, the most expressive part of the icon. The halo wasn’t just made up, it comes to us from Scripture and recorded instances of holy people actually shining light from their faces. So there are a couple of symbolic things represented in the halo; crowns of holiness and actual light which has come from holy poeople. (See Relevation 4:4, Exodus 34:28, 29, 30).

One important thing to note is the difference in Christ’s halo. It will always contain a cross, though with three arms since His head is where the fourth would be. The letters from left to right say “He Who is” which appears in Exodus 3:14 when Moses asks God what His name is and He replies "I AM WHO I AM."

Clothing/Garments

The clothing isn’t just an artist’s representation of what they think people wore, its much more organized than that. One thing to notice is that the body is rarely shown naked. The exceptions are generally Icons of Christ’s Baptism and Crucifixion; since in one he would likely have disrobed and in the other we know the Romans took His clothing.

The Folds

The first thing to look at is how the folds in the clothing are depicted. Definitely not lifelike or natural. This is done to remove us from the “natural”, material world to a spiritual place. Remember that this is what icons are designed to do, they’re not simply art.

The Colors

The colors in the clothing aren’t ones you’d normally see, but are meant to be mystical, suggesting a higher place. They are always quiet colors of inner-control, never loud. There are most often subtle shades of blue, red, green and white. Gold is often used for Christ’s clothing in specific icons. White has a special value, as it is used to show the purity or divine glory of holy people. This is Biblically shown in the passages about Christ’s transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-2), His resurrection (Matthew 28:3), and clothing of the martyrs in Revelation 6:9,11.

For many of those in icons, the colors their clothing is always the same; Christ having blue outside and red inside, Theotokos red on the outside and blue inside and John the Baptist green.

The Body

If you’ve ever thought that the eyes on most icons aren’t quite lifelike, you are correct. It’s not too hard to figure out why

For this reason the eyes are given a lot of attention in most icons as the one part of the body that can best express the “inner man”. The nose will be thin and the lips small. These both tell us that the holy person has refined senses and that they do not dominate them. The hands are also very expressive, often pointing to parts of the icons to emphasize them or to show the person in prayer. Legs are most often long and slender, especially when showing us Saints who follow an “ascetic” life. We won’t usually see their legs  or much of the body in most icons. When we do see the body, it will not be large or detailed. The emphasis will be on expressing the holiness or soul of the person.

Backgrounds

 The backgrounds, like a most parts of an icon, serve to point to what’s really important in an icon; a holy person (or people).  The objects in an icon will be drawn very simply and without splashy colors. They always serve to point to the holy person or persons. The lone exception to the simplistic backgrounds is when a drape is present. It can be seen winding around parts of a building or in other places. This often symbolizes the presence of Grace.

The Iconostasion

According to author Constantine Cavarnos, the use of an Iconostasion can be traced all the way back to the Old Testament, when it was a curtain used to separate the holy place from the holy of holies. In the Orthodox Church, this take the form of a low wall or screen that separates the nave from the sanctuary.

Saint John’s Iconostasion

Individual Icons of Saint John’s Iconostasion

In the two pictures above you get both an idea of the size/shape of Saint John’s Iconostasis, and also a closer view of the individual, major icons.

Panels on the Iconostasis

At Saint John’s, and in many Parishes, there are two rows of icons in the iconostasis. The top row consists of the 12 Apostles. On the lower level are larger, important icons.

Primary Panels

Though there isn’t an official Church Canon, or rule, about the exact placement of the icons in the Church, the two most official icons on the lower row are called the “Sovereign. These are the two on either side of the Royal door. To the right is an icon of Christ, to the other side the Theotokos. Next to Christ is the icons of Saint John the Baptist. To the other side of the Theotokos is usually an icon with a special person or event. At Saint John’s we have an icon of Saint John baptizing Christ.

•  Why would we say that two of the icons of higher in importance?
• Why would we call them “Sovereigns”?

The two “Sovereign” icons are given the most emphasis since they are central to the iconostasis.

There are two additional doors in the iconostasis. On the north (to the right) is the Archangel Michael, to the south (left) is Gabriel.

Next Lesson: Exploring the Sanctuary