Religious image

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A religious image is a work of

Eastern Orthodox religious images,[citation needed
] but often used more widely, in and outside the area of religion.

Christianity

Main article: Christian art
See also:
Early Christian art
Virgin Mary and the Christ Child in the Catacomb of Priscilla in Rome. This is earliest known image of Mary and the Infant Jesus independent of the Magi episode. The figure at the left appears to be Balaam pointing to a star (outside the frame). The star is from Numbers 24:17
.

Images flourished within the Christian world, but by the 6th century,

Saint John Damascene
argued:

"Of old God the incorporeal and uncircumscribed was not depicted at all. But now that God has appeared in the flesh and lived among men, I make an image of the God who can be seen. I do not worship matter, but I worship the Creator of matter, who for my sake became material and deigned to dwell in matter, who through matter effected my salvation."[1]

Finally, after much debate at the Second Council of Nicaea, held in 787, the Iconodules, supported by the Empress, upheld the use of icons as an integral part of Christian tradition[citation needed], and the Western Church, which had been almost totally unaffected by the dispute, confirmed this.[citation needed] According to the definition of the council, icons of Jesus are not intended to depict his divinity, but only the Incarnate Word. Saints are depicted because they reflect the grace of God, as depicted by their halos.

Eastern Christianity

Main article: Icon
Christ Pantokrator (Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
).

The

Triumph of Orthodoxy.[citation needed
]

In the traditions of

bas relief images are used (no more than 3/4 relief). Because the Eastern Church teaches that icons should represent the spiritual reality rather than the physical reality, the traditional style of Orthodox iconography was developed in which figures were stylized in a manner that emphasized their holiness rather than their humanity.[citation needed
]

Traditional icons differ from

inverse perspective (giving the impression that the icon itself is the source of light), and for this reason make very little use of shadow or highlight. The background of icons is usually covered with gold leaf
to remind the viewer that the subject pictured is not earthly but otherworldly (gold being the closest earthly medium in which to signify heavenly glory).

Drawings made from icon murals in Betania Monastery, Georgia, exemplifying classical Orthodox iconography.

Jesus and the

Sacred Tradition
, and many icons display remarkable movement and depth.

The thoughtful use of symbolism allows the icon to present complex teaching in a simple way, making it possible to educate even the illiterate in theology. The interiors of Orthodox Churches are often completely covered in icons of Christ, Mary and the saints. Most are portrait figures in various conventional poses, but many narrative scenes are also depicted. It is not unusual in narrative icons for the same individual to be depicted more than one time.

Qax, Azerbaijan

Orthodox Christians do not pray "to" icons; rather, they pray "before" them. An icon is a medium of communication, rather than a medium of art. Gazing at, an icon is intended to help draw the worshipper into the heavenly kingdom. As with all of Orthodox theology, the purpose is theosis (mystical union with God).[citation needed]

Icons are

bowing
and kissing them. Traditionally, the faithful would not kiss the face of the one depicted on the icon, but rather the right hand or foot depicted on the icon. The composition of an icon is planned with this veneration in mind, and the iconographer will usually portray his subject so that the right hand is raised in blessing, or if it is the saint's full figure is depicted, the right foot is visible.

Icons are also honored with

lampadas (oil lamps) in front of them. Icons are carried in processions, and the bishop or priest may bless the people by holding an icon upright and making the sign of the cross
with it over them.

Western Christianity

Painting of the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, in its current form, in the parish church of Bolton in Cumbria, England.

Until the 13th century, icons followed a broadly similar pattern in West and East, although very few such early examples survive from either tradition. Western icons, which are not usually so termed, were largely patterned on Byzantine works, and equally conventional in composition and depiction.[citation needed] From this point on the Western tradition came slowly to allow the artist far more flexibility, and a more realistic approach to the figures.

In the 15th century the use of icons in the West was enormously increased by the introduction of

Protestants came down firmly against icon-like portraits, especially larger ones, even of Christ. Many Protestants found these idolatrous.[citation needed] Catholics maintained and even intensified the traditional use of icons, both printed and on paper, using the different styles of the Renaissance and Baroque. Popular Catholic imagery to a certain extent has remained attached to a Baroque style of about 1650, especially in Italy and Spain
.

In the

Royal Arms of the United Kingdom has been used like an icon, owing to its absence of human portraiture, as a representation of the sovereign as Head of the Church. It has been carved in relief out of wood and stone as well as painted on canvas and paper.[2]

Hinduism

Statue of Shiva represented with his attributes of the drum damaru (right), his trident trishula (left), and his snake Vasuki around his neck
Main article: Hindu iconography
See also: Mandala

Representations of Hindu deities are rich in symbolism as well as interpretation. Deities are popularly portrayed in the form of paintings, statues, devotional images called murtis, as well as in abstract forms found in the natural environment. Deities often bear a number of attributes associated with them, such as weapons like the discus Sudarshana Chakra of Vishnu,[3] mounts such as the peacock of Kartikeya,[4] sacred objects such as the lotus of Lakshmi,[5] as well as regalia such as crowns and necklaces, and traditional attires such as the sari.[6] Some gods and goddesses are depicted with a multiplicity of features, such as chaturbhuja (four hands) or panchamukha (five faces), both of which highlight divinity.[7] Some deities such as Vishnu and his incarnations are depicted blue, which represents the colour of the sky, with the belief that the deity is omnipresent.[8]

Some of the most common religious symbols in the religion are the Om, the sacred syllable regarded to represent the Ultimate Reality, and the Swastika, a symbol of auspiciousness.[9]

The mode of worshipping deities through religious images is described in Hindu texts such as the Puranas, with prescriptions of the manner in which an image should be installed, consecrated, decorated, as well as venerated.[10][11]

Islam

See also: Islamic art

Shia allow even the depiction of Muhammad and the twelve Imams, a position totally unacceptable to most Sunnis.[citation needed
]

Judaism

It is commonly thought that the

Haggadah of Pesach (Passover
).

A unique Jewish tradition of animal iconography was developed in Eastern Europe, which included symbolic depictions of God's attributes and powers as various animal scenes and plant ornaments in the

Ashkenazic Shivisi - meditative images used for contemplation over God's name, not unlike the Eastern Mandalas
.

Some synagogue wall paintings contained over 80 various animals, including lions,

Uroboros
, elephants, deer, leopards, bears, foxes, wolves, squirrels, turkeys, ostriches and many others.

God himself was usually represented as a two-headed golden eagle in the center of the Sun, painted on the ceiling of the synagogue, and surrounded by the Zodiac circle. This system was based on the Kabbalistic symbolic tradition; unfortunately, the meaning of some forgotten symbols is hard to recover.

Thomas Hubka has traced the style of decorative painting in the wooden synagogues to the medieval Hebrew illuminated manuscripts of Ashkenazi Jewry, and its meaning to the Jewish mystical literature, such as the Zohar and the works of Rabbi Elazar Rokeach.[12]

See also

References

  1. Patrologia Graecae
    , xciv, 1245A)
  2. ^ Hasler, Charles (1980). The Royal Arms – Its Graphic And Decorative Development. Jupiter. pp. 87, 93, 97. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  3. ISBN 978-0-304-70739-3
    .
  4. ISBN 978-81-8475-182-6
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-429-62419-3
    .
  6. ISBN 978-1-4051-6021-6
    .
  7. ISBN 978-81-7017-398-4
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-435-33619-6
    .
  9. ISBN 978-93-5490-116-4
    .
  10. ISBN 978-81-208-3868-0
    .
  11. ISBN 978-90-04-48621-8
    .
  12. ^ "Medieval Themes in the Wall-Paintings of 17th and 18th-Century Polish Wooden Synagogues," by Thomas C. Hubka, p. 213 ff. in Imagining the Self, Imagining the Other: Visual Representation and Jewish-Christian Dynamics in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, edited By Eva Frojmovic, BRILL, 2002
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