The following text is a transcript of the introductory session of the Theology of Orthodox icons in the context of the iconography workshop that took place on Friday, November 4th, 2005. The speech was made by father Konstantinos Stratigopoulos, protopresbyter of the Church of the Dormition in the Holy Metropolis of Glyfada, Attica, Greece.

Lesson 1

Principles of Iconography, the making of a holy icon, and analysis of the icon of the All Holy Mother of Jesus.

We will begin our lessons with a twenty-minute session that we will call “Theology of the Icon” because the theology of the icons is absolutely essential for those of us who wish to know how to practice iconography. We do not simply describe events and impress them in a subjective manner according to our own intellectual and artistic ability and experience. Every line that is made and drawn here has a theological meaning because icons encapsulate the entire theology of the Church Fathers.

Our Church enables us in more than one ways to study the events that are described as part of the work of the Divine Economy: we have the Holy Bible that states the events, we have the Church Fathers who interpret those events, we have the hymns of our Church that also interpret the events – the hymns are an interpretation of the texts of the Bible – and we have the icons that are a further interpretation through the graphic arts. Therefore, following the example of the Church Fathers, in order to be able to interpret the Holy Bible, the iconographer must be an enlightened person, who participates in the events of the Church and knows the holy Bible.

Iconography is a discipline that employs a specific means of expression or “language”, the “language” of the Holy Bible. Thus, the iconographer must know the hermeneutics of the Church, how all events are interpreted by the Church, in order to be able to make the icon a reflection of the theology that is imprinted in the Bible and the Church Fathers. Hence no one can take and describe the events according to their own imagination. You will notice this in the course of our lessons: that each line, each expression is unchangeable – in fact, many elements are dogmatic. You cannot change a doctrine. Nobody interferes with a doctrine. And here, on these icons, we always engrave and impress the Church doctrines. You will see and understand this along the way. I believe it is the most important part of these inaugural courses, because if you simply learn a technique without being aware of the deeper theology, you will fail to achieve anything. You will simply keep oscillating between “how to do this”, and whether to do it “this way” or “that way”, or you will become imitators and icon copiers and nothing else.

Since today is the first time we are delving into the theology of the icon, I will mention a few very general principles of iconography, just for you to remember and to keep in your minds as a general structural element. On these general principles we will build the further foundations for what is called “the theology of the icon”.

The first basic principle of iconography, an essential basic principle, is that the icon ‒ any icon ‒ depicts events in two dimensions, never in three dimensions; in two dimensions only. During the early years of the Church there were some sculptures and bas-reliefs that were gradually abandoned and eventually abolished. This is a manifestation of theology. The Roman Catholic “Church”, on the other hand, continued to practise sculpture, as you know. In our Church sculpture was completely abandoned for reasons that are deeply theological and very substantial, because they refer to the liturgical experience of the faithful who stand in front of the icon. As you can see, we only have two dimensions in iconography; we have height and width, we do not have depth and perspective.

Of course, in the context of iconography, one could apply a technique to give the illusion of depth, by drawing a so-called vanishing and reference point anywhere on the horizon and, based on that point, have the events in front of it appear larger, and events behind it appear smaller. Although an icon may include and describe multiple events and themes in the foreground or in the background ‒ the balance between front and back, small and large is overturned. Here, as you see, we have the Nativity of Christ, a multi-layered event. In icons we are not interested in perspective; we must only have height and width, never depth. Why do we adopt this irregular approach since it is reasonable to employ a painting technique that adds perspective and allows us to have a better view of the events?

The three dimensions in the classical sense, so to speak, of the Euclidean geometry, ‒ and I will not consider other dimensions, e.g. time, apart from the classical ones (height, width and depth in the three-dimensional geometry) ‒ these definitely exist as something very real, but they are self-contained. In other words, something that has height, width and depth exists independently, needs nothing more. It is an object that you can see and observe from all angles and that's all it is. On the other hand, if somebody stands in front of this icon here and sees only height and width, but no depth, the icon invites him to understand that the icon is incomplete. We want the icon to be incomplete. Pay attention to this. Why is it incomplete? What is missing? Depth. This happens for the observer to understand that he himself who stands in front of the icon is the missing depth. The icon is not meant to be part of a museum event or an art event. It is an invitation to participate in the events pictured in it, an occasion for prayer.

Τhe faithful who stand in front of the icon and feel the absence of depth, become that depth themselves. In other words, depth is not to be found at the background of the pictured events; instead, it is provided by the observer. It is I who become the third dimension of the icon as I am “immersed” in it. This is a very important principle, a fundamental principle that cannot be explained according to the logical interpretation applied by experts who study the icons in the West. “Very nice art”, they will tell you “but unaccomplished, lacking depth”. However, we do not make art for art’s sake; we make art as a means of praying.

It is a reductive art, both reductive and interpretive of the text, as I mentioned. This means that the faithful who shall participate in the events will make up for the missing depth through their presence before the icon. This explains why we don’t like having icons in museums, for the visitors simply to observe them. Icons are meant for churches, where one can stand in front of them and pray. In fact, a person can become sanctified in front of an icon. We often say that there are consecrated icons, or refer to an icon that gives off the fragrance of myrrh. How did the icon become consecrated? For either of two reasons.

The first reason could be that the iconographer who made the icon was a saint and thus the entire icon itself was consecrated through him. The second reason might be that many people became sanctified while standing in front of the icon Their tears, sorrow and repentance thoroughly consecrated that icon. This is what we mean by “consecrated icons”. The wood itself has no such properties; it is the people who bestow these sanctifying qualities on objects. Again, remember the shadow of Peter performing healings, the cloth of Christ, the mantle of the prophet Elijah and the chains of St. Peter performing miracles. What were these? They were objects that were consecrated through the sanctified person. Taken by itself an object has no such effect. This, then, is the first fundamental principle: The suspension of three-dimensional space and the incorporation of the third dimension in the person who participates in these events.

A second principle resonating in this Nativity icon – I will make a brief reference to this multi-layered icon here, as I will analyze it in more detail next time – has to do with the description of the events.

As you see, all events are described here. We have the All Holy Mother, Christ, the angels descending, some shepherds observing the events, Joseph contemplating whether he should keep Mary or not, the three wise men arriving, a lot of events that happened diachronically presented in one icon. Notice that we do not describe things like a cartoon sequence. All events that were normally separated by time are simultaneously present here. Therefore, the icon has as a second principle, the principle of the cancellation of time and the surpassing of time. In the Church time is cancelled and everything becomes eternity.

Consider what we say during the Holy Week: “Today He is hung upon the cross”, or during Christmas: “Today is born of the Virgin…”. Ηow do we understand “Today“? In the sense that time is suspended, surpassed ‒ hence everything is unified, all events become concurrent and they happen “Today”.

There are two icons that illustrate this. I will discuss one of them, so that you can understand how this happens. It is the icon of the Ascension of Christ, depicting His ascend into Heaven forty days after His Resurrection. Here you see the All Holy Mother of Jesus in the foreground and the Apostles standing around her. That is how the events took place. Angels descended, Jesus ascended to Heaven with the angels. So far so good. However, there is an element of absurdity in this icon. Up front here you see the Apostle Paul, who at the time of the Ascension was not even a Christian. If you read the Acts of the Apostles, the story of the Ascension is described in the 1st chapter of the Acts. It is in the 9th Chapter, i.e. a long time afterwards, that St. Paul sees “the Light” in Damascus and repents. Hence the icon here is ahistorical. The Apostle Paul apparently “does not belong” with the Ascension. However, for us he does belong.

Due to his repentance he has also regained the preceding time. He has entered this time frame. He is present! All those who repent gain the past time as well. You see, this is the elimination of the entire concept of time. We have many such icons describing events that surpass the confines of time. And this is a very important principle. We do not say “Paul wasn’t there”. He was, since he repented.

Another fundamental principle is that there are no shadows in icons. When we look at the ground in this icon we see no shadows, not even shades. No shadows at all. Why so? Because shadows exist wherever there is a source of light. Light comes from the source and leaves a shadow on the ceiling, e.g. the shadow of a lamp. There is a specific source from which light is emitted. If the light is all around, if the light comes from all quarters, from everywhere, there can be no shadow, shadows are obliterated. All is light.

In an icon everything is expressed in terms of light. There are merely a few ripples or pleats on clothes, etc., but inside the icon all is light. We never paint shadows or shades. It is a completely wrong outlook, contradicting the concept of the Kingdom of Heaven. The light in which the icons are submerged, especially the wooden ones, is golden. Gold expresses this light, but, since it cannot be easily applied on walls and frescoes, we use other colours on these surfaces instead. However, its specific application on wooden icons denotes the absence of shadows and the light that comes from everywhere. This light is the light of the Kingdom of God, the Uncreated Light. This is another essential principle regarding light and shadow and how the light is outpoured on the icons.

Another key principle ‒ although I cannot say why… I am necessarily condensing these principles in order for you to have an initial understanding of these courses on the theology of the icon ‒ is that the saints, any saints depicted on an icon, are drawn facing us. The front facial view doesn't mean that the faces of saints always have to be looking straight at us, “face to face”.

There are also icons, like this icon of the Ascension, where the Apostles are depicted in side postures, facing sideways, but in all figures the eyes are visible. The icon never displays [only] “en face” portraits. Faces can be either slightly turned (we call this a side depiction) or in full view (front depiction), but in all cases both eyes are visible. The face is never dismissed, because the theological concept it conveys is that we shall see God “in person”, or “face to face”.

The Greek word for “face” is “prosopon”, a compound term made up of the preposition “pros” (towards) and the noun “opa” (eyes). “Pros” and “opa” means “towards the eyes”. “Prosopon“ (translated both as “face“ and “person”) is looking at a person straight in the face. And the Saints see God person to person within their own limitations. We will resume this topic when we discuss other icons, as St. Paul writes about the “face to face“ experience, but certainly there are some exceptions.

I would venture to mention a few exceptions that we see in certain elements of a few icons. I do not know why, but in some icons you will see it and wonder why a person is drawn in profile. The great iconographer Theophanes the Cretan has created representations where some figures are drawn in profile. I do not know why. I cannot understand it. Nevertheless, the theology of the icons always requires the face to be depicted with both eyes shown. “Pros” and “opa” with eyes clearly visible. In the future we will study how all these features are depicted.

What I have told you so far are some very general principles regarding the theology of the icons. In the upcoming lessons on the “theology of the icon“, as we progressively examine all these icons, you will see many details and have access to in-depth theology that will motivate you to engage in further theological study, if you seriously want to paint icons correctly.

As I mentioned, the theology of the icon is reflected in the study of the Scriptures, of the Church Fathers and of the hymns. When you listen to a hymn, that is theology. Someone who has studied the event celebrated in the hymn theologizes on that event. Take the hymn (troparion) of the saint we are honouring tomorrow. It is not simply a description of his life. It is the theology of his life. And here, as we said, theology is conveyed through the word of the Scripture and the language of painting.

Let us examine, for a few minutes only, the icon of the Nativity of our Lord. We will explore some of the elements of this well-known icon. Let us look at some key events in the picture. In the centre there is the cave where Christ was born; in the background there is darkness.

Let me remind you that in icons we never portray evil, say the devil; we never do. Even darkness here is a small exception to show what the prophet Isaiah says, that Christ was born for those “that dwell in the land of the shadow of death” (Isaiah 9, 2). Darkness is never to be shown. There are many icons depicting darkness, created by iconographers who didn’t know the theology behind it. Take, for example, the icon of St. Marina with a small demon. In iconography we never portray the evil. It is completely wrong because we paint only what was created by God and therefore has substance, “Hypostasis”, not that which is void of substance. The devil has no substance. Mind you, by that I don't mean that he does not exist. It is one thing to exist and another to have an “hypostasis”. There is a great difference. I am not saying that the devil does not exist. I said that the devil is “anhypostatic”, without “hypostasis”, without substance. A crucial difference if you know the meaning of the words in Greek. This is the theology of the Church Fathers.

“Anhypostatic” means that God did not create such an hypostasis. The devil was an angel. God created the substance of the angels; He did, not create the substance of the devil, because God creates no evil, He is the author of good only. Exercising his free will, the devil chose to become “anhypostatic”, devoid of substance. He is existent but lacks substance. Be careful of these subtle differences in the Greek language. Hence, as a creation, the devil does not exist. He was an angel and in his nature and essence he remains an angel who has distorted his angelic nature. This is the “Anhypostaton” (lacking substance), that we never depict in the sacred icons. Nor do we ever show horror scenes, etc., never!

This is a very basic principle of Iconography, along with the fact that we never make icons of persons that we have not seen. The saints were all seen and revealed. In the icon of the Holy Trinity we will notice that the Father is not depicted. We have never seen the Father. We have seen the Son and we portray Him. We have seen the Holy Spirit descending “like a dove” or in the form of light and so we depict It. We have never seen the Father and therefore we never depict Him in iconography. There is no icon of the Holy Trinity where you will see the Father as a bearded man. This is a false image, an image that has no theological substance, because the Father was never revealed. In this Nativity icon we have darkness, a depiction of the darkness and the shadow of death of which the prophet Isaiah speaks. Inside the cave there are two animals. A donkey and an ox. Two animals.

Why not choose other animals, as in Christmas cards that are made to be charming and appealing to children by including bunnies etc., maybe even a dinosaur... The Bible makes particular reference only to these two animals because they are the animals mentioned by the prophets Isaiah and Habakkuk when they prophesied the event of the Nativity. Both prophets refer to two animals in the midst of which Christ will be born.

“In the midst of the two beasts wilt thou be known” says the prophet Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3, 2) and Isaiah specifies the animals when he says: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand” (Isaiah 1, 3). Notice, he mentions an ox and a donkey. What does this mean? According to the interpretation of our Church Fathers, on a first level they signify the irrational animals and on a second the irrationality displayed by humans, of which there are two types.

They are the Christians of Jewish descent and the Christians of Gentile descent. Who knelt before Christ? First the Jews, who had been aware of Christ a little earlier due to the revelation made to them, and, later, the Gentile Christians. Two categories of Christians, one originating in Gentiles and the other in Jews. Both are irrational, however; the Jews for knowing Christ and yet crucifying Him and the Gentiles for not knowing Him at all. They are always depicted by the two animals in the cave ‒ no more than two. There is nothing else to add. Anyone who dares to do something different alters the Bible. A few secondary elements may change, with due permission, and even then modifications should be applied sparingly. A change of a garment colour, for instance. Nothing else. Never the key elements. For example, there can be no changes when it comes to Christ who is in this area, the manger where He is placed. This is the only way you can depict Him. Nothing else will do, never. Neither a bed nor any other clothes.

Both elements are theological and dogmatic at the same time. Christ is wearing these clothes precisely because He has come in order to be crucified and die for us. The feast of Christmas is not a stand-alone feast. The meaning of Christmas lies in the fact that what is taking place now will lead to an event of salvation for humanity. It is a profound event when God becomes man, but this is not enough for our salvation. Hades, the dominion of death, must be destroyed. This is why in the Orthodox world the feast of feasts is Easter. In the West it is Christmas ‒ this is what they celebrate. Easter there is a somewhat underrated feast. In the Orthodox Church this grand event of the Nativity of Christ is celebrated as a heralds of the Resurrection, administering the work of the salvation of humanity.

Thus, this Child who is born now prepares Himself to be crucified and die for us. And He shows the taking of death upon Him through the linen burial shroud that He is wrapped in. This is the linen burial shroud that Christ was wrapped in at the time of His deposition, when He was placed in the tomb. It is the burial shroud that the myrrh-bearing women later found folded up in one place inside the empty tomb. In the Nativity icon Christ is the child destined to die for us. This is why for purely dogmatic reasons you cannot put on Him any other clothes but the garments of one who is preparing to die in order to rise from the dead. Likewise, the cradle in which He is placed is a tomb. It is the tomb in which Christ entered in order to resurrect. It is not any cradle. That is why when we see any other depiction and say “what a nice picture” we ought to know that it is theologically wrong.

This theology, manifested in iconography, is completely beyond the grasp of Roman Catholicism. Protestants have no icons either; they simply have images on stained glass windows, signifying their need to also employ some type of imagery. As you can see, we are already delving into profound theological issues. I will further analyze this icon next time.

We will finish this session by referring to an element in the depiction of the All-Holy Mother of God, which we will also see in the next icon that we are going to analyze after the Nativity, the icon of the Annunciation. Whenever the Holy Mother is portrayed she must always – always! – have three small stars. One is depicted on her head (i.e. on her head covering) and two on her shoulders (one on the left, one on the right). Three stars in total, one on the head and one on each shoulder. These are eight-pointed stars, they have eight rays each; and the eight rays, as well as the number 3 are dogmatic elements that no one can change. Number three signifies the doctrine of the Holy Mother's perpetual virginity. Perpetual virginity means that she was a virgin before she gave birth, during birth and after birth. Before, during and afterwards. This is the expression of perpetual virginity (aeiparthenia). How do we describe “perpetual”? As something extending in the past, present and future. Thus the Holy Mother's perpetual virginity is expressed via the three stars and it is essential to make it known through visual manifestation that this is no common woman; she is the woman who is always a perpetual virgin. Furthermore, the stars have eight rays. This isn't a casual element either. An icon-maker cannot paint a star with five or six or three rays according to his personal taste, because it is through the All-Holy Mother that God inaugurates the mystery taking place in “the eighth day of creation”. The Mystery of the Eighth Day of Creation. God created the world in six days, upon which His work was finished. If you take the first chapter of the book of Genesis, “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day… And there was evening and there was morning, the second day… And there was evening and there was morning, the third day”; thus the days end. Finally He creates man and the Bible says “And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day”. Creation is complete. The seventh day, as you all very well know, is described in the second chapter of Genesis: “And on the seventh day God rested from His works”.

He “rested from His works“. If you search the entire Bible there is no verse mentioning that the seventh day ends at some point, as in “And there was evening and there was morning, the seventh day”. The seventh day is still present. It is the day we live today. We live in the seventh day of Creation. That is why this day remains open. But during the seventh day man failed to become what God prepared him to be.

Still, forgiving man’s failure, God inaugurated the eighth day, which is the day of the work of the Divine Economy, and the All-Holy Mother is part of this work. Right now, in this world, we are living in the seventh day of creation as part of a failed world and, at the same time, if we live in the Church we also experience the eighth day of creation.

After the Second Coming of Christ we will only have the eighth day of creation. If you have the stamina, please do some further reading on these topics, in the future. As early as the 6th century, Saint Maximus the Confessor gave us a profound description of the mystery of the eighth day. Our theology draws heavily on his writings and what we have before us is an illustration of theology, but we refrain from using many words. You see, there are unimaginable secrets to be found here. It is much more difficult to “read” this than to read Maximus the Confessor. Maximus states the theology clearly. Here you should have studied Maximus in order to understand this event.

I introduced you to some of the keys and secrets pertaining to the mystery of the theology of the icon. We will do this through most of this years’ lessons, so that you may be able to enter this deep manifestation of Orthodoxy, because an iconographer without theological knowledge cannot accomplish anything.

Orthodox Christians should be theologians and this is not a matter of academic qualifications. It is a matter of personal involvement in the events and, of course, a matter of personal cleansing and illumination. It is not a matter of technique, either. In the distant past, in order to prepare themselves for the making of an icon, iconographers fasted for many days, offered prayers, chanted the Supplicatory Canon [of the saint whose icon they would draw] and only then they embarked on their work. If you wish to learn something here, in the context of this tradition, or if you are preparing to paint an icon, you will do it by means of fasting and prayer. You will pray with the events in order to participate in the events, so that some form of reciprocal inclusion (αλληλοπεριχώρηση) can be achieved. When you draw the icon of a saint, you meet and learn about the saint, and this becomes a spiritual, reciprocally inclusive experience. Read the life of the saint. Learn the the saint’s hymns (troparia).

This is not a technique. It is Church life expressed in a work or process of art making. For this reason iconography has the potential for growth. This does not mean the setting of new models for iconography. It means the ability to express this theology in a deeper sense. In the Church nothing remains static and dormant. “Growth” is achieved by people who are illuminated; it is the grace of the Holy Spirit that gives us the ability to “grow”, every individual's idea of setting up a modern school of iconography. If you study the course of iconography through history you will see a growth; without being fully aware of it, you will notice a difference and be able to tell a later from an earlier work, although the key theological elements remain the same. Notice for example the Serbian School of Iconography, which comes after the two fundamental Schools of Panselinos and Theophanes. They stay within the tradition but they introduce another depth and variety without changing the theology, the icon that embodies it, or the balance displayed there. This is a very deep “growth” of iconography, taking place at a later period, because the Holy Spirit always enables us to grow within it. I will go no further, in case you are getting tired.

Question: Who are the Gentiles and who are the Jews? Which animal portrays each group?

Answer: The ox signifies the Christian Jews, and according to the Church Fathers Gentile Christians are depicted with a donkey, the more irrational of the two animals. It is of little importance.