The Temple GalleryEstablished 1959 |
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1453.
Tuesday, 29th May, 1453 was the day Constantinople fell to Mehmed II Fatih (Conqueror) and the Ottoman Turks. The date (like 1066 or 1917) marks one of history's watersheds. It was the end of the Roman Empire and Christianity in the East. It is convenient, though only approximately accurate, to see it as the end of the Middle Ages and the point of departure for the Renaissance. It certainly is the point from which Russia, at a later date, declaring herself the "Third Rome", symbolically becomes the guardian of the Orthodox Faith.
The Averof Collection.
Evanghelos Averof-Tositsas was a Greek politician and a minister under the Caramanlis government until 1984, when he resigned for health reasons. His collection of icons was divided between Paris and Athens. The Greek part of his collection was donated, after his death in 1990, to the Museum of the Tositsas Foundation in Metsovo, from where his family originated. Metsovo is one of Greece�s most picturesque small towns, situated 60 km east of Ioannina, it rests upon the ruins of ancient Tymphi and extends along one of the highest peaks of the Pindus. The collection is housed in the family mansion, restored in the 1950s. It comprises a unique collection of Epirotic folk art, objects, silversmith�s work, woodcuts, gold-embroidered costumes, coins, weapons, saddles agricultural utensils and a collection of Byzantine icons.
Basma.
Slavonic term for thin strips of repoussé metal (usually silver) with which the backgrounds of icons were decorated. The technique is found as early as the twelfth century. See also riza and okhlad.
Constantinople.
In 330 by the emperor Constantine abandoned Rome as the capital of the Empire and founded a "new Rome", naming it after himself, on the shores of the Bosporus where it joins the Aegean Sea. It remained the capital the Roman Empire in the East, today usually referred to as the Byzantine Empire, until in fall in 1453. For a thousand years the beauty of its location and its architecture, the high level of its culture, the wealth of its treasures, churches, icons and saintly relics, the splendour of its imperial ritual and the wisdom of its religious foundations made it by far the greatest city in the world.
The Cretan School.
After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the iconographic and stylistic traditions of Byzantine art were continued in new centers that gradually sprang up on the periphery of the empire in northern and central Greece, the Peloponese, on Crete and on other islands. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the island of Crete was undoubtedly the greatest centre of artistic activity and Chandakas-Candia (modern Heraklion) became the major centre of icon-painting. The island had come under the suzerainty of Venice as early as 1204, when Constantinople was sacked and occupied by the Crusaders, and the economic prosperity of the large cities was accompanied by a highly interesting phenomenon: a flowering of arts and letters which was enriched by Cretan contacts with the renaissance currents of Italy and Western Europe. The high cultural level attained by Crete was a decisive factor in the prestige and influence enjoyed by their art not only in the Orthodox Balkans and the Near East but also in North and South Italy and on the Dalmatian coast.
The number of Byzantine painters who migrated to Crete from as early as the fifteenth century was greatly increased after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Many enjoyed great fame and their icons were much in demand in Venice, elsewhere in Italy and in Flanders. Painters such as Ritzos, Damskinos and Tsaphouris are thought to have employed as many as thirty assistants. The Ritzos family atelier survived through three generations. Later in the seventeenth century, after the Fall of Crete, many important painters settled on the Ionian islands of Zakyntos, Kephalonia and Corfu. Links with the Greek community in Venice were strengthened at this period and some of the most important painters, such as Emmanuel Tzanes and Theodoros Poulakis, were invited to stay there.
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the styles saw little innovation, the tradition even demanding conformity and conservatism. The painters were adept at reproducing either the manniera greca or manniera Latina, according to the taste of the client.
Deesis.
The Greek word meaning prayer or intercession. In Orthodox art it shows the Mother of God and St John the Baptist facing inwards towards Christ Pantocrator ("Ruler of All"). With their hands raised in prayer they intercede on behalf of humanity at the Throne of Judgement. The "Extended Deesis", found on the iconostasis (q.v.), has twelve further figures, usually in paired opposites, among whom are the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, Saints Peter and Paul, the warriors George and Dimitri and sometimes saints for whom there is a local cult.
Desert Fathers.
Ascetic Christians in Egypt who, from the 3rd century, in order to withdraw from worldliness, took up residence in caves in the desert. Some lived alone, others in communities that eventually became monasteries. The most famous is that of St Anthony. They practised a method of intensive meditation, combined with physical exercises, that they called Hesychasm (from the Greek, hesychia=silence, q.v.). Through this they liberated themselves from "passions" and, through developing attention within themselves, aimed to achieve gnosis or knowledge of God.
Dionysius the Areopagite.
Regarded as the founder of Christian mysticism, Dionysius ascribed to himself the name of St Paul's follower mentioned in Acts. His books, On the Divine Names, the Mystical Theology, Celestial Hierarchies and the lost Symbolic Theology have been the chief source of inspiration to Christian mystical writers of all ages. He was in actual fact a Christian Platonists from Alexandria bin about 500.
Egg tempera.
The technique, employed in antiquity and the Middle Ages, where pigments were suspended in an egg medium. The discovery of oil painting is attributed to Van Eyck in fifteenth century Flanders but icon painters have never employed it.
Hellenism, Hellenistic.
The terms given to the art and culture of the Mediterranean civilisation roughly from Alexander the Great in the third century BC, until the fall of Rome in the fourth century AD. Religious and cultural life consisted of a mixture of Greek or Greco-Roman and oriental traditions. We observe Hellenistic culture at its height in Alexandria where the city was divided into an Egyptian quarter, a Greek quarter, a Jewish quarter and a Christian quarter. Artists, philosophers and guardians of their respective religious traditions freely exchanged ideas with each other.
Hesychasm
From the Greek hesychia meaning silence or stillness, the state of mind for monks practicing contemplative prayer. An elaborate psychology for "prayer of the mind" and "prayer of the heart" developed in the Egyptian desert of the earliest Christians and later in Byzantine monasteries on Athos and Sinai and in Constantinople. It was central to the life of Russian monasteries, particularly those associated with St Sergius and his followers. The techniques of breathing, attention and repetition, comparable to those still found today in Buddhist meditation schools, can lead to knowledge of God ("gnosis") through liberation from emotional "passions", bodily "lusts" and the "endless circling of the mind".
Iconoclasm.
The wholesale destruction of images in the 8th and 9th centuries. This resulted from the theological dispute that arose over the Old Testament's command "Thou shalt not bow down and worship any graven image". The Imperial court, society and the clergy polarised around the question of whether to retain images or reject them and the controversy became political and violent. The image breakers were called "iconoclasts" and image lovers were called "Iconodules" or "Iconophiles". In 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council (the Second Council of Nicaea) restored the use of icons having found the formulation by which one did not worship the icons but venerated the person represented in them. Iconoclasm revived briefly under the emperor Leo V and finally was extinguished under the regency of the Empress Theodora who, in 843, together with her son Michael II, brought about the event, celebrated annually by the church, known as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy".
Iconstasis.
The wall or screen separating the congregation from the altar in an Orthodox church. On it, arranged in ordered rows, are prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament, the "Great Feasts" representing scenes from the life of Christ in the New Testament, the hierarchy of angels and saints who intercede for humanity at the Throne of Judgement, and special monumental icons representing the saints or feast to whom a particular church was dedicated.
Komnene or Comnene.(See Chronology)
(See Chronology). The imperial dynasty of the Komnenos family ruled in Constantinople from 1081 until 1185. One of the greatest of all Byzantine Emperors, Alexios I achieved stability, prosperity and a flowering of the arts known as the "Komnenian Renaissance".
Menil Museum.
The late Mme Dominique de Mesnil founded the Museum of the Menil Foundation in Houston, Texas. Part of its collection consists of about fifty icons, many of them of exceptional quality and dating from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. The collection was formed in London by Mr. and Mrs. Eric Bradley between 1960 and 1975 after which it passed to Mme de Mesnil.
Mount Athos.
Peninsula joining the "Holy Mountain" in the Mediterranean just north of Thessalonika to the Greek mainland. From the tenth century it has been a monastic enclave of the Greek Orthodox Church. On it are monasteries and hermitages, many of which house incomparable medieval treasures and libraries. Also known as the "Garden of the Mother of God" it was renowned as a spiritual centre throughout the entire Orthodox world. In the last century it fell into decline but today it is enjoying a revival.
Neoplatonism.
The school, led by Plotinus, that came after the Stoics and Epicureans, which revived Platonism in late Hellenistic and Early Christian times. Many of the early church fathers had been trained in Neoplatonist philosophy before converting to Christianity. And many Christians, including St Augustine, retained an admiration for Plato, even inventing the theory of "Christianity before Christ" in order to claim that he was actually a Christian. Some historians regard the writings of St John, the author of the Fourth Gospel, and St Paul, the author of Acts, to be influenced by Neoplatonism. Christian cosmological views are basically Neoplatonist with another nomenclature. Much of Byzantine as well as European and Renaissance ideas on number, rhythm and proportion, on the emanation and laws of light, and the arts in general, trace their origins to Plato and his successors.
Old Believers (Raskolniki).
Schismatic sects in Russia from the seventeenth century. The controversy arose over corrections imposed by the church authorities to various long established usages. For example the spelling of the name Jesus has been wrongly written with two "i's". The Old Believers' resistance to innovation is especially important for the study of icons. They preserved and restored old icons long before this was done for commercial or artistic purposes and they continued to paint icons in the traditional style, refusing to compromise with the "baroque" influences brought in from western Europe under Peter the Great.
Paleologue.
(See Chronology). Palaiologos was the name of one of Constantinople's most powerful and noble families who came to prominence in the twelfth century. The imperial dynasty was founded in 1259 and the family ruled over Byzantium from 1261, when Constantinople was retaken from the Franks, until the fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The term "Paleologan (or Palaiologan) style" refers to the art of Constantinople in the final brilliant phase of the last hundred and fifty years.
Palekh School.
Palekh is a large village north west of Moscow. Since the eighteenth century several communities, such as those at Kholui and Mstera were entirely devoted to the production of exceptionally fine icons (a little like the rug-making communities in Anatolia), but Palekh was the largest and best known. The fame of the school comes from the extreme delicacy and refinement of the craftsmanship and skills of the painters. Their brilliant, miniature style developed out of the paintings of the Stroganoff School in the 17th century.
During the Soviet period (1917-1989) the Palekh workshops survived by the continued production of papier-mache boxes lacquered in black and decorated with finely painted Russian fairy stories. "Palekh boxes" are widely known and collected in their own right.
Today, icons are once again been painted in Palekh.
Protevangelion.
This document is dateable to the 2nd century though tradition ascribes the authorship to James the Brother of the Lord. It has always been accepted in the Orthodox Church as tradition though not as part of the New Testament. It was the source from early Byzantine times for the imagery of various iconographic compositions including the major feasts of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Nativity of Christ.
Riza, Okhlad.
Interchangeable terms in Slavonic meaning cover or, referring to liturgical vestments, "surcoat". Later icons (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) were covered with rizas or okhlads made of a single sheet of silver or metal and pierced so that only the faces and hands were seen. See also Basma.
Royal Doors ("Tsarski vrata").
The Royal Doors, so called because through them comes the "King of Glory" in the form of the host, lead from the main body of the church through the iconostasis into the sanctuary. They play an important ritual role of the liturgy in Orthodox churches. At the top of the doors is the familiar scene of the Annunciation shown in two parts. Below are either the four Evangelists or the two liturgists St John Chrysostom and St Basil the Great
Rublyov.
Andrei Rublyov, c.1360 - c.1430. Russia's greatest icon painter; a monk of the mystical, contemplative tradition (hesychasm q.v.) and a saint. He is certainly the author of the famous icon of the Trinity and the icons known as the Zvenigorod Deesis but most other attributions are doubtful. Few facts are known about him: as a young painter he came under the influence of the great Constantinople master Theophanes the Greek. Later he is mentioned in contemporary chronicles together with members of his school (Daniil Chorny, Prokhor Gorodets) when they decorated the great Cathedral at Vladimir and the Church of the Trinity at Sergeyev (Zagorsk). His later years were spent in the Spas-Andronikov Monastery in Moscow where he died. Today it has been converted into the museum that bears his name: the Rublyov Museum. The Church Council of 1551 (known as the "Stoglav" or "Council of a Hundred Chapters") instructed icon painters to regard Rublyov as the example to follow.
St Catherine's Monastery
From the 4th century AD a community had established itself on Mount Sinai where Moses encountered God (at the Burning Bush) and from the top of which he received the Tablets of the Law. Around 550 the Emperor Justinian built a church there and surrounded the site with fortified walls. Since when it has been revered as one of the oldest and greatest of Christian monasteries. At first dedicated to the Theotokos (The Virgin or "bearer of God"), whose symbol is the Burning Bush, the name changed when the relics of St Catherine were miraculously transferred there in the 10th century. Because of its extremely remote location and perhaps by an accident of history, the monastery survived the ravages of Iconoclasm, Muslims, Crusaders, Turks, Bedouin and other wars. It was perhaps in greatest danger during the Seven-Day War of 1967, though today tourism could cause its ultimate demise. Its collection of icons, some painted there, but many donated by pilgrims throughout the centuries beginning with Justinian himself, constitutes a unique and continuous history of the art of icon painting beginning with the 6th century.
Saint Sergius.
St Sergius of Radonejh, 1315 - 1392. (Feast day 25th September). Monk, mystic and visionary, restorer and founder of monasteries, most notably the Trinity Monastery at Sergeyev (Zagorsk). He was revered as a living exponent of Byzantine, hesychast spirituality for which he was uniquely gifted; it was said that his presence emitted an aura of light. He was consulted in matters of both religion and politics by Dimitri, Grand Prince of Moscow. Refusing honours and high office, including that of Metropolitan of Moscow, Sergei remained active and energetic while following a simple and ascetic personal life. He is the spiritual patron of Russia. His disciple and biographer, Epifany, records that Sergei was granted a Vision of the Mother of God who appeared to him accompanied by SS Peter and Paul. A ceaseless requiem is sung around his shrine in the Trinity-Sergius monastery.
Starets.
(pl. startsi). Literally "elder". A monk, usually a hermit following the hesychast prayer life who could be consulted for spiritual advice and guidance. Dostoyevsky gives a good picture of a starets in the figure of Father Zossim in The Brothers Karamazov.
Union of Love.
The endless knot which forms the central motif of this icon is meant to
evoke timeless eternity, without beginning or end. Icons which use this
imagery, such as the Temple Gallery example, often include a figure of
God the Father as Lord Sabaoth at the top of the composition. Often
inscribed on the knot are the words of a prayer taken from the services
of the Orthodox Church for Holy Thursday which begins with the Slavonic
words soiuzom lub'vie (The Union of Love). This prayer reads "Bound
through the union of love, the apostles gave themselves to Christ, the
ruler of all. They allow their feet to be washed and proclaim peace to
the whole world." The icon's significance is therefore related to the
love the Apostles have for Christ. The connection with this prayer is
reinforced by the depiction of the twelve Disciples of Christ within the
bands of the knot, as well as images of the four evangelists.
Other variations on this theme show the Apostles in the branches of the
tree or Christ as 'the vine' with the Apostles as 'the branches'
suggesting Christ's scriptural analogy.
Virgin of Vladimir.
The famous miracle-working icon, now in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. It was painted in Constantinople in 1131 and brought to Kiev. Prince Andrei Bogolubski, transferring the seat of his power to the Principality of Suzdal, installed the icon, in 1155, in the Cathedral of the Dormition at Vladimir. In the fifteenth century it was transferred to the Dormition cathedral in Moscow where it remained until transferring to its present location 1930. Many miracles are attributed to the icon including victory over the Tartars in 1380 after it was carried in procession before army of Prince Dimitri of the Don. It has long been regarded as the palladium or protector of Russia and is celebrated by the church with feast days on 26 Aug., 21 May and 23 June.
Vrezok (pl. vreska).
A fragment of an old icon embedded into a new panel. This technique was developed by the old Believers who from the end of the 17th century venerated old icons that were free of innovations.
Wax encaustic.
Technique employing molten wax as a medium for pigments in ancient paintings. It was used in ancient Egypt for decorating sarcophagi and for portrait painting in the Egypto-Roman period. The earliest icons (fifth to eight centuries) were painted in wax encaustic.