![]() I will attempt to relate these principles to the theology of the Church as expressed through her liturgical texts, the Scriptures and writings of the Fathers, and also to current debate among Orthodox thinkers. I have arrived at this “list” through a combination of close observation of actual icons over the past thirty years that I have been a full time iconographer, and from my teaching – in particular the Diploma in Icon Painting that I run for The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts. Some of these are theological, some aesthetic, some practical. Most of the article will outline various qualities which I believe are fundamental to well made icons. I will give particular consideration to the role of illumination because this has the most importance for the formal or stylistic qualities of icons, and therefore on the ability and training of the iconographer. Icons fulfil many roles, but I would like to concentrate here on two main functions that can be summarized with the words communion and illumination. So is a good icon simply an accurate copy of a past masterpiece, or are there timeless principles within which there is room for creativity and variation, both from artist to artist and from epoch to epoch? Or perhaps the formal qualities of an icon have little theological significance and it suffices that the image simply bears the name of its subject? According to the master iconographer Archimandrite Zenon, 10,000 hours of practice are needed to become proficient. It takes many years to become a good painter. Also, Roman Catholic and Anglican/Episcopalian churches and individuals are increasingly wanting icons.īut given this demand, churches will be filled with mediocre work if our training of iconographers is mediocre. ![]() As the number of Orthodox churches increases, both in the West and in traditionally Orthodox countries, more icons and wall paintings are required. The effective training of iconographers is a pressing and practical issue. Or to put the question another way: What constitutes a well painted icon? Icon schools and teachers are working blind if we do not first give deep consideration to the qualities that we wish to nurture in the works of our students. In this article I discuss the training of iconographers, not primarily the practical ways that this can be achieved, but the more fundamental question of what sort of iconographers we are trying to train. TODAY AND TOMORROW: PRINCIPLES IN THE TRAINING OF FUTURE ICONOGRAPHERS ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |