That the icon is always golden in color. Symbolism of color and light in Orthodox iconography

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The symbol is a bridge that connects the visible, the earthly and the heavenly, transferring one into the other. The art of icon painting is not autonomous, it is part of the Liturgical mystery and exudes the mysterious presence of the visible and invisible world.

In its truly symbolic value, the icon surpasses art, but also explains it. You can unconditionally admire the creations of the great masters of all times, considering them the pinnacle of art. But the icon is somewhat aloof, just like the Bible in relation to world literature. Excessive beauty clearly harms the icon, distracting the inner gaze from the unfolding Mystery.

The beauty of the icon lies in the extremely strict hierarchical balance of color, individual shapes, light, and lines. This is a special language, the elements of which are rooted in Sophia and express it in the same way as words express thought.

The symbolism of color in the icon, as well as the composition and plasticity, reflect Divine wisdom. Each color has its own place, its own meaning. The colors in the icon were never mixed. Spectral analysis showed that the colors in the ancient icon overlapped one another. The lower layer glowed from under the upper one. Thus, the icon painter was able to obtain the required number of color shades for the most complete disclosure of images. This is how a harmonious transfer of the color of the created World onto the icon was achieved.

The main color in the icon is gold, symbolizing the light of the kingdom of God. Sometimes it is replaced by yellow and ocher. Assist - thin lines on the clothes of the Mother of God, Christ, Angels, saints - this is uncreated Light, the presence of the Divine itself in the radiance of Divine rays.

The color purple was very important in Byzantine culture, it belonged to royalty, only the emperor could wear purple clothes and sit on a purple throne. This color is present in the icons on the robes of the Mother of God, Christ the Savior.

Red is the color of life-giving energy, love, it became the symbol of the Resurrection - the victory of life over death. The holy martyrs who gave their lives for the love of Christ are depicted in red robes. The wings of seraphim on ancient icons are also written in red, meaning flaming love for God.

White color has always represented holiness and purity. Therefore, the icons depicted the righteous and angels in white robes.

Blue is the color of the celestial sphere and signified the highest contemplative energy. Blue is considered the color of the Virgin Mary. The backgrounds of the paintings in many churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary are made with blue flowers. This color combined with purple produces cherry. The Mother of God is depicted in blue or cherry clothes, the colors of which signify the union of the Earthly and Heavenly Worlds.

Green is the color of renewal of all living things. Manure (earth on icons) is usually of green shades.

Black color is very rare in icons; it is openly present only when depicting Hell, a cave, or a grave. It denotes the absence of Divine light.

Gray - a mixture of white and black was never used in the icon, because... goodness and purity are not mixed with evil.

The purity and clarity of the paint layer of the icon always testified to the purity of the spiritual state of the icon painter.

And vice versa, gray, achromatic, unclear shades of the faces, clothes of the Saints and backgrounds speak of the artistic and spiritual immaturity of the icon painter.

Beauty is not only what you like and is pleasing to the eye; Truly beautiful, first of all, nourishes the mind and enlightens the soul. By opening the icon, giving each form a certain color, the ancient artist introduced Sophian content into the icon, i.e. colors of wisdom. This was not blindly painting clothes and faces with any colors, but with colors endowed with the living power of thought and image.

The influence of color on the human soul is enormous. And it affects her no less than sound. Correctly “sounding”, wisely harmonizing colors generate peace, tranquility and love. Vague, sharp, disharmonious - destruction, anxiety, sadness. From the very beginning of developing the artistic skills of an icon painter, it is very important to instill a sense of color harmony, which is inherent in the God-created nature that surrounds us.

Elena Anikeeva, member of the Union of Artists of Russia

Orthodox newspaper “Blagovest” No. 12 (228) December 2012, published with the blessing of Metropolitan Pavel of Ryazan and Mikhailovsky

One of the important features of icon painting in general and Russian icon painting in particular is the deep symbolic load of almost all components of the image. The richness of the symbolic language of the icon is not an end in itself, but a consequence of its nature, which lies not in “pure art”, but in a historical spiritual, educational and, in a sense, social function. Therefore, an icon is not so much an image as a “text”, extremely rich in images and meanings. Like any other text, it has its own syntax and punctuation, its own “words” and rules for their use. “Reading” an icon can be very difficult, however, hidden meanings sometimes carry much more information than the artistic image itself.

The light and color scheme of icon painting also carry a deep semantic load. This was noted in their works by such researchers as Father Pavel Florensky, A. Bely, M. Voloshin, S. S. Averintsev and many others. However, just as the deep meanings of an icon are inexhaustible, the final point cannot be made in discussing its symbolic load, including the symbolism of color and light.

THE MEANING OF THE SYMBOLIC SERIES IN ICONS

The tradition of Russian iconography originates in Byzantine iconography (just as the Russian Christian tradition at one time emerged from Byzantine tradition and culture). From there came the understanding of the icon as an image, although significantly different from the prototype, but carrying within itself its real embodiment. That is why great importance is attached to the symbolic row of the icon. In essence, an icon is a kind of window into the spiritual world, therefore it is characterized by a special language, where each sign is a symbol. With the help of a sign-symbolic system, an icon conveys information like a written text, the language of which must be known in order to perceive and experience the underlying meaning.

The mystery of a symbol simultaneously represents both silence and the revelation of its deep meaning, which remains invisible to the uninitiated and is revealed to believers. Understanding the depth of the symbols embedded in iconography is a great revelation for believers, an awareness of a reality greater than the one in which a person usually finds himself.

Many researchers have spoken about the importance of the symbol as such in their works. So, for example, M. Voloshin writes: “A symbol is nothing more than a seed in which a whole cycle of human history is closed, an entire era that has already passed, a whole system of ideas that have already been experienced, a whole system of knowledge that has already passed into the unconscious. These seeds of dead cultures, scattered throughout the world in the form of signs and symbols, conceal within themselves the complete imprints of vast eras. Hence the power that symbols have over the human spirit. True knowledge lies in the ability to read symbols."

The symbols of Orthodox icons have a deep meaning and background. Thus, even Father Pavel Florensky noted that symbols can be considered at three levels, understood in a system of three “languages”:

At the first level in the “divine” language, the symbol represents, as it were, “being in itself,” it is extremely ontological, it is merged with what it signifies;

At the second level, in the “sacred” language, the symbol “reveals” itself outside, the first “incarnation” (from the word “flesh”) of the symbol occurs, its removal from the realm of pure ontologism, translation from the divine language into the sacred language, more precisely, the revelation of the divine language in the sacred language;

At the third level in the “worldly” language, the symbol acquires a material meaning, its ontology is destroyed, that is, its connection in the minds of people with the transcendental world, and it no longer helps the contemplation of the spiritual world, but, as it were, encrypts it; and since the living experiential and spiritual perception of the symbol at the highest levels has been lost, we have to make our way to them through the analysis of the symbolism of the third level.

Some symbols do not have their own interpretation, but act as indices that allow one to determine the status of the one depicted on the icon. First of all, this applies to robes, which are an important hierarchical sign. A fur coat or purple mantle is an attribute of holy princes, a cloak (drag) is an attribute of warriors, and a white himation symbolizes martyrdom. In this case, not only the type of clothing itself matters, but even the nature of the folds. You can often find symbols that allow you to personify the central image of the icon. Thus, it is customary to depict St. Sergius of Radonezh with a scroll and life. The healer and great martyr Panteleimon is traditionally depicted with a box of medicines, Andrei Rublev with an icon of the Trinity, and Seraphim of Sarov with a scroll of sayings and prayers.

The metaphorical speech of icon painting is complex and covers not only objects, but also compositional structure, image technique, spatial structure, volume and perspective - each element of the icon has its own symbolic meaning. Elements of an icon such as its color content and light also carry an important symbolic meaning in iconography.

Speaking about the iconicity of the Russian icon, it is worth noting that the symbols used in it have a dual nature: the first can be voiced in words, the second is “tacitly implied” - that is, that part that can be comprehended and understood only through direct experience. This second non-verbal part is an important component of the semantic load of iconography symbols, however, due to its specificity, it is difficult to describe and study. Moreover, any attempt to describe it will be subjective.

SYMBOLICS OF COLOR IN RUSSIAN ICONOGRAPHY

General characteristics of the semantic load of color in iconography

In icon painting, paints are not directly related to the image; they play an independent role: what is important is not what the color of the object looks like in reality, but what is important is what the author should convey with his color palette. Each color in iconography has a certain meaning. Icons are often painted on a gold background. This is due to the fact that the color gold or yellow in Russian iconography is a metaphor for God's presence, heavenly light, eternity and grace. The haloes of the saints are written in gold, the clothes of the Savior, the Gospel, the footstools of the Savior and angels are written in gold strokes (assist).

White color symbolizes innocence, purity, holiness, and the radiance of Divine glory. Traditionally, it is used to depict the robes of saints, as well as the wings of angels and the shroud of children. On many icons dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ, the Savior is depicted in white robes. A similar meaning is carried by the color silver, which is a symbol of the purity of the flesh and evangelical eloquence. The latter is based on the words of Psalm 11.7: “The words of the Lord are pure words, silver purified from the earth in a furnace, refined seven times.”

The red color can denote both the feat of martyrdom and belonging to the apocalyptic serpent, that is, it can have directly opposite properties. The red color also symbolizes the sacrifice of Christ, Sophia the Wisdom of God is written in red, the red robe of the Mother of God tells us about the destiny of Her destiny, as well as the Mother of God. So, for example, on the “Sign” icons the Mother of God is depicted in a red robe, for this image captures Her eternal chosenness as the most pure Vessel who embodied the Word. The Savior’s dark red tunic is a symbol of His human nature.

The crimson color (purple), which came to Russian icon painting from Byzantium, deserves special attention. This is the color of the emperor, the supreme power, symbolizing royalty and greatness. In Russian icon painting, the clothes of holy kings and princes were traditionally painted in purple. In the same meaning it is sometimes used as a symbol of God the Father. In addition, you can often find icons on a purple background, which is, in particular, characteristic of images of Christ Pantocrator. Crimson has another meaning, which goes back to the images of threat and fire. Therefore, purple tones are often used in scenes of the Last Judgment.

The blue color symbolizes the world's desire for God, it is a symbol of Heaven. The blue himantium of the Savior is a symbol of his Divinity. The color blue also symbolizes mystery, revelation and wisdom. This is the color of the apostolic robes.

Blue color means purity and chastity. It is an attribute of the Mother of God, a symbol of Her Ever-Virginity (for example, the Mother of God “Unbreakable Wall” of the Kyiv St. Sophia Cathedral).

Green is the color of harmony, unity with the divine. It is also the color of spring, signifying the victory of life over death and eternal life. The color green symbolizes Christ as the giver of life and the cross as the tree of life and is often used in Nativity scenes.

Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary “The Unbreakable Wall”, mosaic of St. Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv

Brown color recalls the frailty of finite human nature, purple conveys the peculiarity of the ministry of a holy saint, black - emptiness, lack of grace, death, but also renunciation of worldly vanity, humility and repentance.

It should be noted that there are also colors that are fundamentally not used in icon painting. One of them is gray. In the language of symbols, this color represents a mixture of good and evil, giving rise to ambiguity, obscurity and emptiness - concepts unacceptable in Orthodox icon painting.

One should not, however, perceive the above as some kind of definitive dictionary of symbolic signs. We are talking about general trends in the use of colors, and combinations of colors are more important than a single color element.

The icon does not have strictly fixed semantic meanings for each specific color. However, speaking about Russian icons and the symbolism of their colors, it is important to emphasize that in icon painting there are certain canons, within the framework of which the color scheme should also fit. These canons do not limit the artist’s creativity, but only allow his skill to be fully revealed. Moreover, even within the canon, the color scheme can vary within certain limits. So, for example, the color of the Savior’s clothing on the “Descent into Hell” icon can change noticeably: on Moscow icons Christ is depicted, as a rule, in golden robes, on the icons of the Novgorod school - in white or gold, and in Pskov - even in red ( which in its own way is also justified, since this is an icon of the Resurrection of Christ, an icon of Easter).

Descent into hell. End of the 15th century Novgorod school. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

One should also dwell on the following fact: when a division is made into the color scale denoting the earthly world and the heavenly one, then we are talking about two types of vision - “spiritual” and “physical”, with the help of which these colors can be perceived. This creates two problems:

1) the problem of understanding the relationship between the two corresponding realities;

2) the problem of adequately conveying what was seen with “spiritual eyes” in the images of everyday language and means of physical representation.

The first problem relates to the field of ontology and epistemology, the second - to the field of semiotics. Of unconditional interest is the fact that both problems can be solved, and are solved in the theological tradition as semiotic ones.

According to religious tradition, spiritual colors are "heavenly prototypes of earthly colors"; “colors are the veils of the original divine light in its descent and radiance in the lower worlds”; “the earthly copy or image performs the function of reflection and is based on the heavenly original”; “God strives for self-disclosure, for the manifestation of his essence... and colors are also part of this process”; “the direct correspondence to the revelation of the mystery of Nature in color is the revelation in tongues”; “our earthly colors are only a pale reflection, dead earthly prototypes of the rainbow of heavenly colors”; “colors have the capacity for some revelation”; “all images and forms of lower levels of being are similarities and correspondences to those of higher levels of being”; “they are, as it were, modifications of the sources of light from the heavenly and spiritual things that create them”; “the correspondence of spiritual meaning between the colors of individual gradational spheres is preserved”; “earthly colors are an image of the eternal power of the Lord, which is always in action”; “parallelism between creativity in essence and creativity in likeness”; “icon painting is metaphysics, just as metaphysics is a kind of icon painting with words.”

Thus, we can say that “earthly” colors are copies, images, reflections, similarities, correspondences, modifications, radiations, representations, parallelisms associated with their “heavenly” prototypes and prototypes. Spiritual color has a direct relationship to the spiritual development of a person, denoting the degree of this development (holiness) and “place” in the heavenly hierarchy.

The symbolism of color iconography through the eyes of various researchers

A large number of works by various researchers are devoted to the symbolism of color iconography. Each of them made their contribution to the assessment of the symbolic load of the color scheme of the icons.

So, for example, as V.V. Lepakhin, a researcher of Voloshin’s work, notes: “Voloshin identifies three main tones: red, corresponding to everything earthly, blue to air, yellow to sunlight (this division of colors was made by the poet, as he himself notes, according to "color theory") Voloshin gives them the following symbolic meanings or, as he himself puts it, “translates” them into symbols: red will denote the clay from which the human body is made - flesh, blood, passion associated with it; blue - spirit, thought, infinity, the unknown; yellow - light, will, self-awareness, royalty.”

Then, speaking about additional colors in relation to iconography, M. Voloshin acts as a professional artist. He writes: “Further, symbolism follows the law of complementary colors. Complementary to red is a mixture of yellow with blue, light with air - green, the color of the plant kingdom opposed to the animal kingdom, the color of tranquility, the balance of physical joy, the color of hope.

Purple color is formed from the fusion of red and blue. Physical nature, imbued with a sense of mystery, gives prayer. Purple, the color of prayer, is opposed to yellow, the color of royal self-awareness and self-affirmation. Orange is complementary to blue and is a fusion of yellow and red. Self-awareness combined with passion forms pride. Pride is symbolically opposed to pure thought, a sense of mystery.

Purple and yellow are characteristic of the European Middle Ages; colored glass of Gothic cathedrals - in these tones. Orange and blue are typical for oriental carpets and fabrics. Purple and blue appear everywhere in those eras when religious and mystical feelings predominate.

The almost complete absence of these two colors in Russian icon painting is significant! It says that we are dealing with a very simple, earthly, joyful art, alien to mysticism and asceticism. Coinciding with the Greek gamma in yellow and red, the Slavic gamma replaces black with green. She substitutes the green one everywhere in place of the blue one. Russian icon painting sees the air as green, and gives daytime reflexes with green whitewash. Thus, in place of the basic pessimism of the Greeks, the color of hope, the joy of being, is substituted. There is no correlation with the Byzantine scale.”

However, this view of M. Voloshin on the symbolism of Orthodox icons is not supported by all researchers. So V.V. Lepakhin notes that the lilac color is, indeed, practically absent on Russian icons. This is due to the fact that, arising from the fusion of blue and red, the lilac color thereby acquires a somewhat ambiguous character in Orthodox iconography. Through purple it is close to black, which is a symbol of hell and death, while red, as one of its constituent parts, symbolizing martyrdom and the flame of faith, in the vicinity of black changes its meaning to the opposite and becomes a symbol of hellfire. Therefore, Russian icon painters used the color lilac very carefully, and even in those works where it is present, it tends more towards either pinkish and red, or blue.

However, M. Voloshin’s statement about the absence of blue color on Russian icons is very controversial. Suffice it to remember that many of Voloshin’s contemporaries wrote with admiration about the heavenly cornflower blue of the Rev. Andrei Rublev. Rublev's "cabbage roll" (or Rublev's "blue") has become the subject of special study, and articles on this topic could currently form a whole collection. Apparently, Voloshin paid attention only to the icons of the Novgorod school, in which “fiery cinnabar and emerald green” really predominate.

Having developed the concept of “real symbolism,” M. Voloshin sought to find examples that confirmed it and consciously or subconsciously ignored those examples of iconography that did not fit into the framework of his theory.

An analysis of the symbolism of the colors of icons is given in the article by Andrei Bely “Sacred Colors”. So, for example, A. Bely gives the dark red color the following meaning: “this is the glow of hellish fire, fiery temptation, but faith and the will of a person can turn it into a scarlet scarlet of suffering, which, according to the prophetic promise, the Lord will make white as snow.” In the same work, A. Bely says that the white color represents the embodiment of the fullness of being, and the black color “phenomenally defines evil” (that is, non-existence).

Father Pavel Florensky also has his own vision of the symbolism of color in icon painting. So, for example, he notes that the red color denotes God’s thought about the world, the blue color is a symbol of eternal truth and immortality, etc. . In general, Father P. Florensky pays minimal importance to color itself, since he perceives color through the prism of light. For him, colors are just “darkened”, “weakened” light.

P. Florensky's attitude towards color as something secondary is in obvious contradiction with the opinion of another authoritative expert on icon painting - E. Trubetskoy. The latter highly valued the multicoloredness of the Russian icon, seeing in it “a transparent expression of the spiritual content that is expressed in them [icons].” But this apparent contradiction will disappear if we consider that Father P. Florensky, through the process of icon painting, reconstructs the ontology and metaphysical laws of the creation of the world, or the embodiment of the Spirit in material forms. In this process, colors are only weakened Light. But for those looking at the icon (E. Trubetskoy’s position) these are “the colors of the local, visible sky, which have received the conventional, symbolic meaning of signs of the otherworldly sky.” Ontologically, color has no independent meaning. Epistemologically, it is a form of manifestation of spiritual light, its symbol and testimony. But epistemologically it is not valuable in itself; The value of color is given by the spiritual content, which expresses itself through it - this is what color is in the understanding of E. Trubetskoy.

For researcher E. Benz, a cognitive-evaluative orientation in relation to color is more typical. The evidence of theologians he cites can be analyzed and summarized as follows: “earthly” colors visible to physical vision do not have a decisive meaning, as, indeed, do any other things or phenomena of this world. They are ontologically secondary, they are consequences, “outpourings of upper waters,” forms of manifestation of certain potentialities, striving to be embodied in images and things of visible reality. An important conclusion may be that the already “spiritually visible” colors are “fractions” of the divine Light, i.e. they appear as independent qualities “before” physical manifestation. At the same time, they, as an integral part of the process of God’s incarnation in nature, become an integral part of the physical world, and not just physically visible light. Colors, within the framework of his theory, are “primary matter”, the metaphysical substance of material bodies.

Archimandrite Raphael (Karelin) also speaks about the symbolism of color in his works. He writes: “The color white represents the sacred, the Divine energies raising the creature to its Creator; golden - eternity; green - life; blue - secret; red - sacrifice; blue - purity. Yellow is the color of warmth and love; lilac denotes sadness or a distant future; purple - victory; crimson color majesty; The color purple is used in robes when they want to emphasize the peculiarity of the ministry or the individuality of the saint. Turquoise color - youth; pink - childhood; black sometimes means emptiness, lack of grace, and sometimes sin and crime. Black color combined with blue is a deep secret; black color combined with green - old age. Gray color - deadness (rocks are depicted on the icon in gray, with clear conventional lines). Orange color - the grace of God, overcoming materiality. Steel color - human forces and energies, in which there is something cold. Purple color - completion. Amber color - harmony, agreement, friendship.”

SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT IN RUSSIAN ICON PAINTING

Light also plays an important role in the symbolic content of the icon.

Thus, Father Pavel Florensky writes: “everything that appears, or in other words, the content of all experience, which means all being, is light. In his womb “we live and move and exist”; it is he who is the space of true reality. And what is not light is not, and therefore is not reality.” Thus, metaphysical light is the only true reality, but inaccessible to our physical vision. In the Orthodox icon, this primordial light is depicted with gold as a substance completely aesthetically incompatible with ordinary paint. Gold here appears as light, which is not a color. This symbolizes that the eternal light is transcendental even in relation to what is depicted on the icon. The image itself is also extra- and supramundane. It is - in the terms of Father Pavel Florensky - an “image of descent” from the heavenly, invisible.

The golden background of the icon represents space as a light medium, as the immersion of the world in the effective power of Divine energies. The golden background also continues into the assist of the vestments of Christ and the saints. For example, in the icons of the Mother of God, the vestments of the Infant Christ are almost always golden yellow, in different shades of color, and decorated with a golden assist. Thin golden shading covering the folds of the tunic and himation of the Savior reveals the image of Christ as the Eternal Light (“I am the Light of the world,” John 8:12).

Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ with gold tested in the crucible: “In this you rejoice, having now been grieved a little, if necessary, by various temptations, so that your tested faith, more precious than gold that perishes, although it is tested by fire, may turn out to be praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:6-7). Gold is a symbol of the Easter triumph of the soul, a symbol of the transformation of man in the fire of suffering and trials.

Gold can symbolize the purity of virginity and royalty: “The Queen appears at Your right hand, covered in golden vestments” (Ps. 44:10). In the Christian tradition, this is a prophecy about the Virgin Mary. In church poetry, the Mother of God is called the “golden-resplendent bedchamber of the Word” and the “Ark gilded by the Spirit.”

According to Basil the Great, the beauty of gold is simple and uniform, akin to the beauty of light.

All other colors, except gold, are fleeting and weakened manifestations of light inaccessible to knowledge, the first signs of the manifestation of being, potency, quality. They are also light, but “lesser”.

In general, the process of displaying the heavenly upper light on an icon, according to Father P. Florensky, occurs in several stages, in accordance with the stages of creating the icon. Here, in brief, are the stages of creating an iconographic image:

1) preparing the board and a flat white plaster surface (gesso);

2) “signifying” - first drawing with charcoal and then with a needle the contours of the future image - “an abstract scheme of embodiment”;

3) gilding of the background - according to P. Florensky, “the process of embodiment begins with the gilding of light.” “The golden light of super-quality existence, surrounding future silhouettes, manifests them and makes it possible for abstract nothingness to pass into concrete nothingness, to become potency”;

4) applying paint. This stage, according to P. Florensky, “is still color in the proper sense of the word, it is just not darkness, almost darkness, the first glimmer of light in darkness,” that is, “the first manifestation of non-existence from insignificance. This is the first manifestation of quality, a color barely illuminated by light”;

5) painting - deepening the folds of clothing and other details with the same paint, but in a lighter tone;

6) white space - in three steps, using paint mixed with white, each time lighter than the previous one, the illuminated surfaces are moved forward;

7) assist - shading with sheet or “created” gold;

8) a letter from the person in the same order as the pre-person.

It turns out that light itself appears on the icon at the third stage of its creation - gilding the background. After this, the light as such and through it the colors of the icon, as a reflection of light, are detailed and drawn. Colors are finally formed during the fifth, sixth and seventh stages of “metaphysical ontogenesis” and serve to form a concrete image from an abstract possibility. We can say that colors are “condensed” light, formative qualities accessible to vision, the result of the action of the formative energy of the same primordial Light. This, according to Father P. Florensky, is the essence of the relationship between color and Light.

It should also be noted that the image of light itself, in its quality as a spiritual symbol, reveals two facets that must be clearly distinguished. On the one hand, light represents clarity, revealing the world to vision and knowledge, making being transparent and revealing the limits of things. It is from this point of view that the Gospel of John speaks of the Savior’s presence as light: “Walk while there is light, lest darkness overtake you, and he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going” (12:35).

On the other hand, light is a brilliance that delights a person’s soul, amazes his mind and blinds his eyes. In this sense, the Book of Exodus speaks of God’s glory as a fiery brilliance: the appearance of the Lord’s glory “like a consuming fire” (24:17). This brilliance can be formidable, like a flash, lightning, fire, or like that “glory of light” from which Saul lost his sight (Acts 22:11); it can be, on the contrary, warming the heart and warming, like the evening dawn, with which one of the most ancient church hymns compares the light of God’s glory - “The quiet light of the holy glory...”.

All this diversity of the concept of mountain light is displayed on the icons. Iconography depicts things as being produced by light, rather than as being illuminated by a light source. For icon painting, light posits and creates things; it is their objective cause, which precisely because of this cannot be understood as merely external. Indeed, the technique and techniques of icon painting are such that what it depicts cannot be understood otherwise than as produced by light, since the root of the spiritual reality of what is depicted cannot help but be seen as a luminous supermundane image.

Gold has a special meaning in the icon. Paints and gold are speculatively assessed as belonging to different spheres of existence. Icon painters, with the help of gold, sharpened the timelessness, spacelessness of the perception of the background of the icon and at the same time the luminosity of what is depicted on it. This luminous depth can only be conveyed with gold, because paints are powerless to convey what is invisible with physical vision. It is gold that is depicted on the icon that is directly related to the Power of God, to the manifestation of God’s grace. The icon, for example, conveys this phenomenon of blessed light with a golden halo around the saint’s head. The halo on the icon is not an allegory, but a symbolic expression of a specific reality; it is an integral part of the icon.

Since the background in the icon is light, and the light is mountainous, that is, immaterial and eternal, then, obviously, its source lies somewhere outside the plane of the image. The light comes towards the viewer, hiding its source, on the one hand, and on the other hand, it blinds the unwary; it forces the intelligent to close his eyes. Light itself is mobile, it covers the object it touches. The concept of light is related to the concept of energy. The light seems to push forward the figures standing in front of its source, and emphasizes the inaccessibility of the space lying “behind” the image plane. The golden background - “unapproachable light” - is inherent only in God, and those “coming” are before Christ.

To summarize, we can say that iconography in general, and Russian iconography in particular, is deeply symbolic in its essence. Understanding an icon as an image, although significantly different from the original image, nevertheless carrying its real presence, leads to the fact that the writing of almost all of its elements is to a certain extent regulated by canons, and each element of the icon carries its own hidden multi-layered meaning.

The color scheme also carries a deep meaning. According to religious tradition, colors have epistemological value as images and symbols that connect a person with the world, and represent a spiritual characteristic of a person in the face of the highest laws of the universe.

Depending on the image located on the icon, the personality of the icon painter, the culture within which the icon was created, etc., the semantic meaning of the colors of the icon may change.

The colors of the iconography are directly related to the reflection of the mountain Light. Typically, the eternal and immaterial Light is displayed through gold. The golden background of the icon represents space as a light medium, as the immersion of the world in the effective power of Divine energies. The golden background also continues into the assist of the vestments of Christ and the saints. The remaining colors, except for gold, represent fleeting and weakened manifestations of transcendental light, the first signs of the manifestation of being, potency, quality. They, according to Father Pavel Florensky, are also light, but “lesser.”

The icon is a completely unique phenomenon in medieval culture. The icon painter had a task that was determined by the peculiarities of the medieval worldview: to bring a person’s consciousness into the spiritual world, to change consciousness, to arouse a sense of the reality of the ideal world, to help a person find his own path of transformation.

For a believer in medieval Rus', there was never a question whether he liked an icon or not, how or how artistically it was made. Its content was important to him. At that time, many did not know how to read, but the language of symbols was instilled in any believer from childhood. The symbolism of colors, gestures, and depicted objects is the language of the icon, without knowing which it is difficult to assess the meaning of icons.

The Russian icon heralds the transformation of the world and man with a dominant mood of joy, which is conveyed by plots, symbols of things, gestures, colors, arrangement of figures and even clothing.

But coming to joy is possible only through asceticism - there is no joy without torment, Resurrection without the Cross. Joy and asceticism are complementary themes, where the first is the goal, the second is the means to achieve the goal; asceticism is subordinated to joy. The way to express asceticism is through conventional, symbolic figures and faces of saints.

An icon is not a portrait or a genre painting, but a prototype of ideal humanity. Therefore, the icon provides only a symbolic image of him. Physical movement on the icon is reduced to a minimum or completely absent. But the movement of the spirit is conveyed by special means - the pose of the figure, hands, folds of clothing, color and most importantly - the eyes. All the power of moral achievement, all the power of the spirit and its power over the body are concentrated there.

Clothing on icons is not a means to cover bodily nudity, clothing is a symbol. She is a fabric from the deeds of a saint. One of the important details is folds. The nature of the arrangement of folds on the clothes of the saints indicates the time of painting of the icon. In the 8th – 14th centuries, folds were drawn frequently and small. They talk about strong spiritual experiences and a lack of spiritual peace. In the 15th – 16th centuries, folds were drawn straight, long, and sparse. All the elasticity of spiritual energy seems to break through them. They convey the fullness of ordered spiritual forces.

Around the head of the Savior, the Mother of God and the holy saints of God, the icons depict a radiance in the shape of a circle, which is called a halo. A halo is an image of the radiance of light and Divine glory, which transforms a person who has united with God.

There are no shadows on the icons. This is also due to the peculiarities of the worldview and the tasks that faced the icon painter. The heavenly world is the kingdom of spirit, light, it is incorporeal, there are no shadows there. The icon shows things created and produced by Light, and not illuminated by Light.

Symbolism of gestures

Hand pressed to the chest - heartfelt empathy.

A hand raised up is a call to repentance.

A hand extended forward with an open palm is a sign of obedience and submission.

Two hands raised up - a prayer for peace.

Hands raised forward - a prayer for help, a gesture of request.

Hands pressed to the cheeks are a sign of sadness, grief.

Symbolism of things

Oak is the tree of life.

A house is a symbol of house-building and creation.

The mountain is a symbol of the sublime, a sign of spiritual and moral ascent.

The red cross is a symbol of martyrdom (and rebirth).

The anemone flower is a sign of the sorrow of Mary, the mother of Christ (usually on the icons “Crucifixion” and “Descent from the Cross”).

The angel's staff is a symbol of heavenly messenger, messenger.

A young man with a pipe is the wind.

Pelican is a symbol of love for children.

The golden crown is a symbol of spiritual victory.

The right and left sides on an icon or fresco are also often symbolic. The medieval viewer knew that to the left of Christ were foolish virgins, and to the right were reasonable ones.

Two or three trees symbolize the forest.

The ray from the heavenly spheres is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, Divine energy, which performs the miracle of the incarnation of the Divine in man.

An action in front of a temple or building where the front wall is removed means that it takes place inside the temple or building.

Also, sometimes icon painters used various symbolic images, the meaning of which is clear to a person well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures:

The golden cross, anchor and heart mean faith, hope and love.

The book is the spirit of wisdom.

The golden candlestick is the spirit of the mind.

The gospel is the spirit of counsel.

Seven golden horns - the spirit of the fortress.

Seven gold stars - spirit of knowledge.

Thunder arrows are the spirit of the fear of God.

Laurel wreath - the spirit of joy.

A dove holding a branch in its mouth is the spirit of mercy.

Depiction of church sacraments

A vessel with water is the sacrament of baptism.

Alavaster (special vessel) - the sacrament of anointing.

The cup and paten are the sacrament of communion.

Two eyes - the sacrament of repentance (confession).

The blessing hand is a sacrament of the priesthood.

A hand holding a hand is the sacrament of a wedding.

A vessel with oil is the sacrament of consecration of oil (unction).

Symbolism of color in an icon

Golden joy is proclaimed in the icon with color and light. Gold (assist) on the icon symbolizes Divine energy and grace, the beauty of the other world, God himself. Solar gold, as it were, absorbs the evil of the world and defeats it. The golden shine of mosaics and icons made it possible to feel the radiance of God and the splendor of the Heavenly Kingdom, where there is never night. The golden color signified God himself.

Yellow , or ocher - the color closest in the spectrum to gold, is often simply its replacement, and is also the color of the highest power of angels.

Purple or crimson , color was a very significant symbol in Byzantine culture. This is the color of the king, the ruler - God in heaven, emperor on earth. Only the emperor could sign decrees in purple ink and sit on a purple throne, only he wore purple clothes and boots (this was strictly forbidden to everyone). Leather or wooden bindings of the Gospels in churches were covered with purple cloth. This color was present in the icons on the robes of the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven.

Red – one of the most noticeable colors in the icon. This is the color of warmth, love, life, life-giving energy. That is why the color red has become a symbol of the Resurrection - the victory of life over death. But at the same time, it is the color of blood and torment, the color of Christ’s sacrifice. Martyrs were depicted in red robes on icons. The wings of the seraphim archangels close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. Sometimes they painted red backgrounds - as a sign of the triumph of eternal life.

White color is a symbol of Divine light. It is the color of purity, holiness and simplicity. On icons and frescoes, saints and righteous people were usually depicted in white. The righteous are people who are kind and honest, living “in truth.” The same white color shone with the shrouds of babies, the souls of dead people and angels. But only righteous souls were depicted in white.

Blue and cyan the colors meant the infinity of the sky, a symbol of another, eternal world. Blue color was considered the color of the Mother of God, who united both earthly and heavenly. The paintings in many churches dedicated to the Mother of God are filled with heavenly blue.

Green color – natural, lively. This is the color of grass and leaves, youth, blossoming, hope, eternal renewal. The earth was painted with green; it was present where life began - in the scenes of the Nativity.

Brown – the color of bare earth, dust, everything temporary and perishable. Mixed with the royal purple in the robes of the Mother of God, this color recalled human nature, subject to death.

Grey - a color that has never been used in icon painting. Having mixed black and white, evil and good, it became the color of obscurity, emptiness, and nothingness. This color had no place in the radiant world of the icon.

Black color is the color of evil and death. In icon painting, caves—symbols of the grave—and the yawning abyss of hell were painted black. In some stories it could be the color of mystery. The black robes of monks who have retired from ordinary life are a symbol of the renunciation of former pleasures and habits, a kind of death during life.

The basis of the color symbolism of the Orthodox icon, as well as all church art, is the image of the Savior and the Mother of God. The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is characterized by a dark cherry omophorion and a blue or dark blue chiton. The image of the Savior is characterized by a dark brown-red chiton and a dark blue himation. And here, of course, there is a certain symbolism: blue is the Heavenly color (symbol of Heaven). The dark red color of the Virgin's clothes is a symbol of the Mother of God. The Savior's blue himation is a symbol of His Divinity, and the dark red tunic is a symbol of His human nature. The saints on all icons are depicted in white or somewhat bluish vestments. The color symbolism here is also strictly fixed. To understand why the white color scheme is assigned to saints, you need to remember the history of the color white in worship. Old Testament priests also wore white robes. The priest performing the liturgy puts on a white vestment as a sign of memory of those white robes that, according to legend, were worn by the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord

Gilding is of particular importance in icon painting. The background of icons for the icon painter is “Light”, a sign of Divine grace that illuminates the world; and the golden ink (ink, assist - a graphic expression of light highlights with thin lines, leaves of gold leaf) on clothes and objects conveys a bright reflection of blessed energy. The sequence of gilding is extremely important. Before drawing figures and faces, the background turns golden - this is the light that brings the space of the icon out of the world of darkness and transforms it into the divine world. The assist technique is used in the second stage, when the image has already been written. By the way, Father Florensky wrote: “All iconographic images are born in a sea of grace and they are purified by streams of divine light. Icons begin with the gold of creative beauty and icons end with the gold of consecrated beauty. Painting an icon repeats the main events of Divine creativity: from absolute nothingness to the New Jerusalem, sacred creation."

You can learn more about the symbolism of color in icon painting by reading a fragment of the essay by Prince E.N. Trubetskoy “Two Worlds in Old Russian Icon Painting”.

Past and future and icon

Often the icon shows events of several days

or even the entire life of a saint. During prayer, people had time to think about them and experience them in their hearts. For example, the icon “Kirik and Ulita” tells in detail and gradually the story of Christian martyrs, mother and son. In 305, by order of the Roman governor of the city of Tarsus, they were tortured and then executed. With their hands folded in prayer, the martyrs meekly turn to heaven, where Christ sits on a golden throne among the clouds. On the left, among the arches and columns (and therefore inside the buildings), scenes of their exploits and miracles are presented. So Kirik and Julitta are brought to trial, then they are beaten with whips, thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar, but they remain unharmed. After this, they even heal the hand of the cruel ruler, which fell into the cauldron. One of the villains kicks Kirik and immediately falls dead. In the center of the icon, the executioner cuts off the head of Julitta, surrounded by a halo. This is how the icon showed the past and the future, while even the simplest people understood that miraculous events were taking place in another, unearthly time and space.

Reverse perspective

If you look at the road going into the distance, it will seem narrower until it disappears on the horizon. In the icon it’s the other way around: all the lines converge towards the person and he finds himself in front of an unknown bright infinity. In icon painting this is called reverse perspective. Very often you can find a comparison between an icon and a window “from the world above to the world below.” In many ways, the impression of an icon as a window is due to the use of reverse perspective. Following the “diverging” rays and lines, the eye applies reverse perspective and to the icon as a whole, “expanding” the small image on the icon in breadth. The space of the icon suddenly becomes unusually wide, surrounding the viewer, as if flowing towards him.

Heaven and earth in the icon

For centuries, Rus' experienced difficult trials: wars, destruction, famine. Days of prosperity were rare and short-lived. But even in the darkest times, Russian icons consoled us with their wise peace. In the icon, two worlds live side by side - the one above and below. The word "mountain" means "heavenly, highest." In the old days they used to talk about something that was above. “Dolny” (from the word “dol”, “valley”) - what is located below. This is exactly how the image on the icon is constructed. Light, almost transparent figures of saints stretch upward, their feet barely touching the ground. In icon painting it is called “poem” and is usually written in green or brown. Sometimes the earth almost disappears, dissolving in the heavenly radiance. For example, in an icon of the 12th century. “The Mother of God rejoices in You” is glorified by both the people standing below and the angels surrounding the throne of the Mother of God.

Circle in icon painting

The circle is a very important symbol in icon painting. Having neither beginning nor end, it means Eternity. The figure of the Mother of God on the icon “Rejoices in You” is inscribed in a circle - this is a symbol of Divine glory. And then the outlines of the circle are repeated again and again - in the walls and domes of the temple, in the branches of the Garden of Eden, in the flight of mysterious, almost invisible heavenly forces at the very top of the icon.

Icon- a completely unique phenomenon in medieval culture.

The icon painter had a task that was determined by the peculiarities of the medieval worldview:

To bring human consciousness into the spiritual world,

Change consciousness

Arouse a sense of the reality of an ideal world,

Help a person find his own path of transformation.

For a believer in medieval Rus', there was never a question whether he liked an icon or not, how or how artistically it was made. It was important to him content. Many people couldn't read back then, but symbol language instilled in any believer from childhood.

The symbolism of colors, gestures, and depicted objects is the language of the icon, without knowing which it is difficult to assess the meaning of icons.

Around the head of the Savior, the Mother of God and the holy saints of God, the icons depict a radiance in the shape of a circle, which is called nimbus.

A halo is an image of the radiance of light and Divine glory, which transforms a person who has united with God.

There are no shadows on the icons.

This is also due to the peculiarities of the worldview and the tasks that faced the icon painter.

The heavenly world is the kingdom of spirit, light, it is incorporeal, there are no shadows there.

The icon shows things created and produced by Light, and not illuminated by Light.

Each item in the icon is a symbol:

Oak- tree of life.

House– a symbol of house-building, creation.

Mountain- a symbol of the sublime, a sign of spiritual and moral ascent.

Red Cross- a symbol of martyrdom (and Renaissance).

Anemone flower- a sign of the sorrow of Mary, the mother of Christ (usually on the icons “Crucifixion” and “Descent from the Cross”).

Angel's staff- a symbol of the heavenly messenger, messenger.

Young man with a pipe- wind.

Pelican- a symbol of love for children.

Golden crown- a symbol of spiritual victory.

Right and left sides on an icon or fresco– are also often symbolic. The medieval viewer knew that to the left of Christ were foolish virgins, and to the right were reasonable ones.

Two or three trees- symbolize the forest.

Ray from the celestial spheres- a symbol of the Holy Spirit, Divine energy, which performs the miracle of the incarnation of the Divine in man.

An action in front of a temple or building where the front wall is removed means that it takes place inside the temple or building.

Also, sometimes icon painters used different symbolic images, the meaning of which is clear to a person who is well acquainted with Holy Scripture:

Golden cross, anchor and heart-mean faith, hope and love.

Book- spirit of wisdom.

Golden candlestick- spirit of reason.

Gospel- spirit of advice.

Seven golden horns- the spirit of the fortress.

Seven gold stars- spirit of knowledge.

Thunder Arrows- the spirit of the fear of God.

Laurel wreath- spirit of joy.

Dove holding a branch in its beak- spirit of mercy.

Church sacraments can be depicted on icons:

Vessel with water- sacrament of baptism.

Alavaster (special vessel)- the sacrament of anointing.

Chalice and paten- the sacrament of communion.

Two eyes– sacrament of repentance (confession).

Blessing hand- sacrament of the priesthood.

Hand holding hand- the sacrament of wedding.

Vessel of oil- the sacrament of consecration of oil (unction).

Icon color:

Golden color and the light in the icon proclaims joy. Gold (assist) on the icon symbolizes Divine energy and grace, the beauty of the other world, God himself. Solar gold, as it were, absorbs the evil of the world and defeats it. The golden shine of mosaics and icons made it possible to feel the radiance of God and the splendor of the Heavenly Kingdom, where there is never night. The golden color signified God himself.

Yellow, or ocher– the color closest in spectrum to gold, often just a substitute for it, is also the color of the highest power of angels.

Purple or crimson, color was a very significant symbol in Byzantine culture. This is the color of the king, the ruler - God in heaven, emperor on earth. Only the emperor could sign decrees in purple ink and sit on a purple throne, only he wore purple clothes and boots (this was strictly forbidden to everyone). Leather or wooden bindings of the Gospels in churches were covered with purple cloth. This color was present in the icons on the robes of the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven.

Red is one of the most prominent colors in the icon. This is the color of warmth, love, life, life-giving energy. That is why the color red has become a symbol of the Resurrection - the victory of life over death. But at the same time, it is the color of blood and torment, the color of Christ’s sacrifice. Martyrs were depicted in red robes on icons. The wings of the seraphim archangels close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. Sometimes they painted red backgrounds - as a sign of the triumph of eternal life.

White color- a symbol of Divine light. It is the color of purity, holiness and simplicity. On icons and frescoes, saints and righteous people were usually depicted in white. The righteous are people who are kind and honest, living “in truth.” The same white color shone with the shrouds of babies, the souls of dead people and angels. But only righteous souls were depicted in white.

Blue and cyan colors meant the infinity of the sky, a symbol of another, eternal world. Blue color was considered the color of the Mother of God, who united both earthly and heavenly. The paintings in many churches dedicated to the Mother of God are filled with heavenly blue.

Green color is natural, living. This is the color of grass and leaves, youth, blossoming, hope, eternal renewal. The earth was painted with green; it was present where life began - in the scenes of the Nativity.

Brown– the color of bare earth, dust, everything temporary and perishable. Mixed with the royal purple in the robes of the Mother of God, this color recalled human nature, subject to death.

Grey- a color that has never been used in icon painting. Having mixed black and white, evil and good, it became the color of obscurity, emptiness, and nothingness. This color had no place in the radiant world of the icon.

Black color– the color of evil and death. In icon painting, caves—symbols of the grave—and the yawning abyss of hell were painted black. In some stories it could be the color of mystery. The black robes of monks who have retired from ordinary life are a symbol of the renunciation of former pleasures and habits, a kind of death during life.

The basis of the color symbolism of the Orthodox icon, as well as all church art, is the image of the Savior and the Mother of God.

The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is characterized by dark cherry omophorion– a robe worn on the shoulders, and blue or dark blue chiton. Chiton- the Greek name for lower clothing, dresses, clothing in general among ancient peoples.

The image of the Savior is characterized by a dark brown-red chiton and a dark blue himation(cloak, cape). And here, of course, there is a certain symbolism: blue is the Celestial color (symbol of Heaven).

The Savior's blue himation is a symbol of His Divinity, and the dark red tunic is a symbol of His human nature.

The dark red color of the Virgin's clothes is a symbol of the Mother of God.

The saints on all icons are depicted in white or somewhat bluish vestments. The color symbolism here is also strictly fixed. To understand why the white color scheme is assigned to saints, you need to remember the history of the color white in worship. Old Testament priests also wore white robes. The priest performing the liturgy puts on a white vestment as a sign of memory of those white robes that, according to legend, were worn by the Apostle James, the brother of the Lord.

Before drawing figures and faces, the background turns golden - this is the light that brings the space of the icon out of the world of darkness and transforms it into the divine world.

The assist technique is used in the second stage, when the image has already been written.

Reverse perspective

If you look at the road going into the distance, it will seem narrower until it disappears on the horizon.

In the icon it's the other way around: all lines converge towards a person and he finds himself in front of an unknown bright infinity.

In icon painting this is called reverse perspective.

Very often you can find a comparison between an icon and a window “from the world above to the world below.”

In many ways, the impression of an icon as a window is due to the use of reverse perspective.

Following the “diverging” rays and lines, the eye applies reverse perspective and to the icon as a whole, “expanding” the small image on the icon in breadth.

The space of the icon suddenly becomes unusually wide, surrounding the viewer, as if flowing towards him.

The use of reverse perspective or a uniform, impenetrable background seemed to bring the viewer closer to the depicted image; the space of the icon seemed to move forward along with the saints placed on it.

Heaven and earth in the icon

Circle in icon painting

Types of images of the Virgin Mary

One of the main types of images of the Mother of God is Oranta.

It represents the Virgin Mary, with her arms raised and outstretched, opening outward, i.e., in the traditional gesture of intercessory prayer. Oranta is distinguished from other iconographic types of images of the Mother of God by its majesty and monumentality.

Also, the main type of image of the Virgin Mary is Hodegetria- guidebook.

Depicted with the Child Jesus Christ. Both the Mother of God and the Child are addressed directly to the viewer. This is a strict and majestic image, where especially the Divinity of Jesus Christ.

There is another type of image of the Virgin Mary - Tenderness, which depicts the mutual tenderness of the Mother of God and the Child. Natural human feeling, maternal love and tenderness are emphasized here.

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Introduction

1. Symbolism of light and color in Byzantine icon painting

2. Symbolism of light and color in Russian icon painting

2.1 Color of Russian icons

2.2 Symbolic meaning of flowers in icon painting

2.3 Light in icon painting

3. Symbolism of color and light in the works of Russian icon painters

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

In the Byzantine understanding, an icon is an image that, although significantly different from the prototype, nevertheless carries within itself the real presence of this prototype. That is why such significant importance is attached to the symbolic series in the icon and, in particular, to the symbolism of color.

The purpose of my work is to study the symbolism of light and color in the tradition of Orthodox icon painting. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

Get acquainted with the symbolism of color in Byzantine iconography

- study the process of formation of artistic and religious symbolism of flowers

- consider changing the symbolic meanings of colors and the coloring of icons

- consider information about the coloring of Russian icons of various schools

- get acquainted with the manifestation of the symbolism of light and color in the works of icon painters

The object of the study is the symbolism of the Orthodox icon. The subject of the study is the symbolic meaning of light and color in Orthodox iconography.

1 . Symbolism of light and color in Byzantine icon painting

One of the most complex symbols in an ancient icon is color. The famous art theorist M. Alpatov wrote: “The ancient manuals, the so-called “Originals”, mention the colors with which ancient icons were painted: vohra, gaff, sankir, azure, red lead, cinnabar, prazelen, indigo and others. The manuals give instructions on how to mix paints, but all this only applies to techniques that have not undergone significant changes over the centuries. But ancient texts say almost nothing about the artistic significance of colors, about the coloring of ancient Russian icons.”

Church liturgical literature remains silent about the symbolism of flowers. Iconographic facial originals indicate what color of clothing should be painted on the icons of a particular holy person, but do not explain the reasons for such a choice. In this regard, understanding the symbolic meaning of flowers in the Church is quite difficult. .

The most famous analysis of the artistic and religious symbolism of flowers in Byzantine art belongs to the researcher V.? V. Bychkov.

Gold is a symbol of wealth and power, but at the same time a symbol of Divine light. Gold in the form of spreading streams, applied to the clothes of iconographic images, symbolized Divine energies.
Purple is the most important color for Byzantine culture; a color that symbolized Divine and Imperial greatness.

Red is the color of fiery, fire, punishing and cleansing, a symbol of life. But it is also the color of blood, first of all the blood of Christ.
White had the meaning of purity and holiness, detachment from the worldly, striving for spiritual simplicity and sublimity. Black color, in contrast to white, was perceived as a sign of end and death.

The green color symbolized youth and flowering. This is a typically earthly color: in images it contrasts with heavenly and royal colors - purple, gold, blue, blue. Blue and light blue were perceived in the Byzantine world as symbols of the transcendental world.

Consequently, in Byzantine art the main colors were purple, gold and white, followed by blue, and in last place was green, perceived as an earthly color.

2 . Symbolism of light and color in Russian icon painting

2 .1 Color of Russian icons

Studying from the Byzantines, Russian master icon painters accepted and preserved the symbolism of color. But in Rus' the icon was not as magnificent and austere as in imperial Byzantium. The colors on Russian icons have become more vibrant, bright and sonorous. Already in the 12th century, Russian artists introduced notes of pure open colors into the Byzantine tonal range. In the Yaroslavl Archangel, the colorful brocade of his clothes itself emits a warm light, its highlights fall on his rosy cheeks. In the 13th-14th centuries, the element of pure color, primarily bright red cinnabar, made its way into primitive icons. Researchers note that attitudes towards color in Rus' changed in the 14th century. From the middle of the 14th century, great attention began to be paid to paints. In the 14th and 15th centuries such amazing features appeared as excessive greening of the faces, “pink swirl of fingers”, “pink reflections of the sphere in the hand”, pink and golden fingers of Sophia the Wisdom of God. In the icon painting of that time, artistic styles were gradually determined, which art theorists considered as schools, highlighting Novgorod, Pskov and Moscow, where icon painting was most developed. religious icon painter

The icons of the Suzdal land are distinguished by their aristocracy, sophistication and grace of their proportions and lines. They have a feature that sharply distinguishes them from Novgorod. Their general tone is always coldish, bluish, silvery, in contrast to Novgorod painting, which invariably gravitates towards warm, yellowish, golden. In Novgorod, ocher and cinnabar dominate; In Suzdal icons, ocher never dominates, and if it occurs, it is somehow subordinated to other colors, giving the impression of a bluish-silver color scheme.

The coloring of Pskov icons is usually dark and limited, except for the background, to three tones: red, brown and dark green, and sometimes to two: red and green. The typical technique for the Pskov master is to depict reflections of light in gold, in the form of parallel and divergent hatching. The icons of Vladimir, and then of Moscow, which prevailed after him in the 14th century, differ from other icons in that they are based on a precise balance of different tones in order to create a harmonious whole. As a result, the palette of the Vladimir and then Moscow schools, despite the presence of individual bright tones, is characterized not so much by intensity as by the harmony of its colors.

In addition to the noted centers, there were others, for example, Smolensk, Tver, Ryazan and others.

During this period, there is not just a replacement of the gloomy Byzantine color scheme, where purple, gold and blue colors predominated, with spectrally pure tones, but a radical change in the color palette occurs: red becomes absolutely dominant in icon painting; green appears in abundance; blue appears; dark blue practically disappears.

V.?N. Lazarev writes: “The iconography of the 15th century loves fiery cinnabar, and shining gold, and golden ocher, and emerald green, and pure white colors like snowdrops, and dazzling lapis lazuli, and delicate shades of pink, violet, lilac and silver. green."

The 16th century preserves the spiritual richness of the image; The colorfulness of the icon remains at the same height and even becomes richer in shades. This century, like the previous one, continues to produce wonderful icons. However, in the second half of the 16th century, the majestic simplicity and classical proportionality of the composition, which had held for centuries, began to waver. Wide plans, a sense of monumentality of the image, classical rhythm, antique purity and power of color are lost. There is a desire for complexity, virtuosity and overload with details. The tones darken, fade, and instead of the previous light and light colors, dense earthy shades appear, which, together with gold, create the impression of lush and somewhat gloomy solemnity. This is a turning point in Russian icon painting. The dogmatic meaning of the icon ceases to be recognized as the main one, and the narrative point often acquires a dominant meaning.

This time and the beginning of the 17th century are associated with the activities of a new school in northeastern Russia - the Stroganov school, which arose under the influence of the Stroganov family of icon painting lovers. A characteristic feature of the Stroganov masters of this time are complex, multifaceted icons and small writing. They are distinguished by exceptional subtlety and virtuosity of execution and look like precious jewelry. Their drawing is complex and rich in details; in the paints there is rather a tendency towards a general tone, to the detriment of the brightness of individual colors.

In the 17th century, the decline of church art began. The dogmatic content of the icon disappears from people’s consciousness, and for icon painters who came under Western influence, symbolic realism becomes an incomprehensible language. There is a break with tradition, church art is becoming secularized under the influence of the emerging secular realistic art, the founder of which is the famous icon painter Simon Ushakov. There is a confusion between the image of the church and the image of the world, the Church and the world.

Craft icon painting, which always existed along with great art, acquired only a decisively dominant significance in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, but the strength of the church tradition was great, which, even at the lowest level of artistic creativity, retained echoes of great art.

2.2 Symbolic meaning of flowers in icon painting

Each color shade on the icon has a special semantic justification and meaning in its place.

Golden or shining yellow color in iconography is an image of God's presence, the uncreated Tabor light, eternity and grace. The haloes of the saints are written in gold, the clothes of the Savior, the Gospel, the footstools of the Savior and angels are written in gold strokes (assist). Gold cannot be replaced by anything, and since it is an expensive metal, thin golden plates - gold leaf - are used instead of gold. It was applied to the halos of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints.

Yellow, or ocher, is a color close in spectrum to gold, often simply acting as its replacement, and is also the color of the highest power of angels

Purple, or crimson, is the color of the king, the ruler - God in heaven, the emperor on earth. Leather or wooden bindings of the Gospels in churches were covered with purple cloth. This color was present in the icons on the clothes of the Mother of God - the Queen of Heaven.

Red is one of the most prominent colors in the icon. This is the color of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the color of His Second Coming and the inevitable Last Judgment. In the “Descent into Hell” icon, Jesus Christ is depicted in a red oval (mandorla), which symbolizes all the meanings of red. This is the color of warmth, love, life, life-giving energy. That is why the red color became a symbol of the Resurrection - the victory of life over death, but at the same time, it is the color of blood and torment, the color of Christ’s sacrifice. Martyrs were depicted in red robes on icons. The wings of the seraphim archangels close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. Sometimes they painted red backgrounds - as a sign of the triumph of eternal life. The background of the icon is often red, which emphasizes its festivity and the gospel's joyful news.

White color is a symbol of Divine light. It is the color of purity, holiness and simplicity. On icons and frescoes, saints and righteous people were usually depicted in white. Jesus Christ clothed himself in white clothes on Mount Tabor, the Old Testament priests and angels dressed in white, brides dressed in white clothes, the pure souls of dead babies and the souls of the righteous were clothed in white. The faces of the saints and their hands were illuminated with whitewash. White color is the color of heaven.

Purple conveys the peculiarity of the ministry of the holy saint.

Green color is natural, living. This is the color of grass and leaves, youth, blossoming, hope, eternal renewal. The earth was painted in green; it was present where life began - in Christmas scenes. This is also the color of the harmony of Divine existence, eternal peace. Sometimes, since blue paint was of great value in the old days, it was replaced with green, which at the same time took on, in addition to its own meaning, also the meanings of blue-blue color.

Brown is the color of bare earth, dust, everything temporary and perishable. Mixed with the royal purple in the robes of the Mother of God, this color recalled human nature, subject to death.

Gray is a color that has never been used in icon painting. Having mixed black and white, evil and good, it became the color of obscurity, emptiness, and nothingness. This color had no place in the radiant world of the icon.

Black is the color of evil and death. In icon painting, caves - symbols of the grave - and the yawning abyss of hell were painted black. In some stories it could be the color of mystery. The black robes of monks who have retired from ordinary life are a symbol of the renunciation of former pleasures and habits, a kind of death during life.

The basis of the color symbolism of the Orthodox icon, as well as all church art, is the image of the Savior and the Mother of God.

The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is characterized by a dark cherry omophorion and a blue or dark blue chiton.

The image of the Savior is characterized by a dark brown-red chiton and a dark blue himation. The blue himation of Christ is a symbol of His Divinity, and the dark red tunic is a symbol of His human nature. The dark red color of the Virgin's clothes is a symbol of the Mother of God.

Gilding is of particular importance in icon painting. The background of the icon for the icon painter is “Light”, a sign of Divine grace that illuminates the world; and the golden ink (ink, assist - a graphic expression of light highlights with thin lines, leaves of gold leaf) on clothes and objects conveys a bright reflection of blessed energy. The sequence of gilding is extremely important.

Before drawing figures and faces, the background turns golden - this is the light that brings the space of the icon out of the world of darkness and transforms it into the divine world. The assist technique is used in the second stage, when the image has already been written.

2.3 Light in icon painting

The space and time of icons are built according to their own specific laws, different from the laws of realistic art and our everyday consciousness. The icon reveals a new existence to us; it is written from the point of view of eternity, so it can combine layers of different times.

Light in the icon is the main character. The miraculous Light of the spiritual world spreads everywhere: it falls on the face, clothes, illuminates objects, while there is no light source on the icon. He is, as it were, behind the images, penetrating and shining through them. The light of the icon makes holiness visible. Holiness is the light of the Holy Spirit. The icon painter reveals the holiness of the face through its enlightenment, he reveals it from darkness, reveals it through the gradual and repeated application of lighter tones to darker ones, gradually achieving the necessary purity of the face.

The icon painter does the same with the saint’s clothes. The gaps in the clothing on the folds show how it flows over the saint’s body, making it weightless, sublime, unearthly, shining like the light of a candle.

Spiritual Uncreated Light is the divine energy appearing on the faces of the saints already here, it radiates tranquility, peace and tranquility. This quiet breath of wind that touched Elijah is the light emerging through the face of the saint, the light of the deification of man. There are never shadows on the icon, because the Uncreated Light is not like the light of the earth.

Both in the patristic writings and in the lives of the saints, we often encounter evidence of the light with which the faces of the saints shine at the moment of their highest glorification, just as the face of Moses shone when he descended from Mount Sinai, so that it must have covered him, because the people could not bear this radiance. The icon conveys this phenomenon of light with a halo or halo, which is a completely accurate visual indication of a certain phenomenon of the spiritual world. The light with which the faces of the saints shine and which surrounds their head, as the main part of the body, naturally has a spherical shape. Since this light, obviously, cannot be directly depicted, the only way to convey it pictorially is to depict a circle, as if a section of this spherical light. A halo is a symbolic expression of a certain reality. It is a necessary attribute of the icon, necessary, but not sufficient, for it was used to express not only Christian holiness. The pagans also depicted their gods and emperors with a halo, apparently to emphasize, according to their beliefs, the divine origin of the latter. So, it is not just the halo that distinguishes the icon from other images; it is only an iconographic attribute, an external expression of holiness.

The construction in depth is, as it were, cut off by a flat background - light in the language of icon painting. There is no single source of light in the icon: everything here is permeated with light. Light is a symbol of the Divine. God is light, and His incarnation is the manifestation of light in the world. Consequently, light is divine energy, so we can say that it is the main semantic content of the icon. It is this light that underlies her symbolic language.
Here the concept contained in hesychasm, a teaching accepted by Orthodoxy, found its expression: God is unknowable in His essence. But God is revealed by grace - the divine energy poured out by Him into the world, God pours light into the world. Light in Orthodoxy, under the influence of hesychasm, acquired a completely exceptional significance and special meaning.

Everything related to God is permeated with divine radiance and is luminous. God Himself, in His incomprehensibility and unknowability and because of the inaccessibility of the brilliance of His radiance, is “super-light darkness.”

3 . SymbolismtsVeta andWithVeta in the works of Russian icon painters

Theophanes remained faithful to the traditions of Byzantine colorism. In the icons of the Annunciation Cathedral he created, thick, dense, rich low tones predominate. Pavel is depicted in a crimson-red cloak and against his background there is a golden binding of a book with a cinnabar edge and dark hands. Archangel Michael Theophanes is shrouded in shadow, immersed in a golden haze. In “Our Lady of the Don,” a dark cherry cloak hides a dark blue scarf on her head. The face is immersed in golden twilight. For Feofan, the light reflections that fall on objects, transform them, and enliven the darkness become of great importance. Feofan's coloring with its light contrasts is more intense, dramatic, passionate than that of his Byzantine predecessors of the 12th century.

Feofan's colorful harmonies made a strong impression on Russian masters and, first of all, on Andrei Rublev. The work of St. Andrew leaves its mark on Russian church art of the 15th century, during which it reaches the pinnacle of its artistic expression. This is the classical era of Russian icon painting.

The difference between Feofan's and Rublev's understanding of color is the difference between Russian and Byzantine art. Feofan in his “Transfiguration” has muted earthy colors, on which the blue reflections of Favorian light restlessly fall. In Rublev's "Transfiguration" everything quivering and restless takes on a clear form. The contradiction between light and darkness, highlights and shadows is removed.

Based on the texts, iconographers are trying to guess which of the three faces of the deity Rublev had in mind in each of the angels of his “Trinity”; the master in the very placement of the figures expressed his ideas most in the colors of the icon. The heavenly blue of the middle angel's cloak lies on top of the heavy crimson, and echoes of this sound in the side figures: blue, pink and, in addition, green. The fact that Rublev was most interested in the ratio of colorful spots is evidenced by the fact that the sleeve of the left angel is not blue, as it should have been, but pink, like his cloak. Despite significant losses of colorful layers, especially in the clothes of the left angel, which disrupt the original balance of colors, in Rublev’s “Trinity” transparent glazes, light highlights, and the relationships between paints of different aperture ratios are still clearly visible. It is expressed in the very colors of the icon that what is presented here is just a bright vision.

In the Novgorod icon of the 15th century, the primary design is usually a drawing outlined by a clear dark outline; graphic contrasts of white and black are not uncommon. To enrich the design, bright colors are applied over it. First of all, bright, cheerful cinnabar, secondly, emerald green, which enters into competition with it, increases its activity, although it never wins.

Novgorod icons look colorful and skillfully painted. Color spots are constantly interrupted by spaces, which somewhat weakens their color impact.

The predilection of Novgorod masters for open, bright colors was apparently influenced by the influence of folk art on them. At the same time, the ringing Novgorod flavor, only heavier, passed into later northern icons. At the end of the 15th century, pure color was replaced in Novgorod by a small colored pattern. The sonority and brightness of colors in Novgorod icons of the 15th century makes them very attractive in the eyes of a modern viewer. But their artistry is characterized by a certain restraint.

The difference between Novgorod and Pskov can be seen already in the earliest icons. In the Novgorod icon of “John the Climacus,” the background is densely and evenly filled with cinnabar; it is opposed by the figure of a saint in a dark crimson cloak. In the Pskov “Ilya Vybutsky”, the shades of red and gray-gray have more softness and warmth, and accordingly, the image of the old prophet is not so monolithic. In the XIV-XV centuries, the difference in the color of Novgorod and Pskov noticeably intensified

Pskov masters are inferior to Novgorod ones in their artistic dexterity. The execution of their icons is somewhat heavy and clumsy; the colorful spots are placed thickly and carelessly. But everything in them is warmed by a living and even passionate feeling. Dense masses of color live and move, earthy and brown tones light up and illuminate everything with a hot inner light.

In the icon of the Cathedral of Our Lady, the red robes and white highlights stand out sharply from the dark green mass of the background. In the icons “Nativity of the Mother of God” and “Descent into Hell,” combustion reaches a pathetic force of expression. The red robe of Christ next to the red cloak of Eve - this passionately echoes their spiritual unity. The figure of Christ is highlighted only by white highlights on his cloak.

There are many beautiful icons of the 15th century, for which it is still unknown which school they belong to. These are two icons from Ostrukhov’s former collection: “The Descent from the Cross” and “The Entombment.” In his preference for cinnabar and warm tones, their creator reveals a certain affinity with Novgorod. The master achieves a synthesis of folk multicolor and Rublev's harmony and tonality. The dark cherry cloak of the Mother of God in “The Descent” expresses all the sublime restraint of her maternal grief. Woman's cinnabar cloak with raised arms

The second half of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries are associated with another brilliant master, whose name was placed next to the name of the Monk Andrew - Dionysius. He inherited from Rublev the subtlety of tonal relationships, and at the same time he was attracted by the richness and diversity of the colorful range of Novgorod icons. In his icons of Metropolitans Alexy and Peter, the contrast between the color of objects and the light that falls on them disappears with their lives. Losing their former density and strength, Dionysius’s colors become transparent, as if watercolor or stained glass. At the same time, many halftones appear, the color becomes exquisitely refined. Dionysius contrasts them with dark, almost black ones, and this contrast further enhances the transparency and airiness of the color atmosphere of his icons.

In the coloring of his “Crucifixion”, Dionysius partly follows Rublev as the creator of the “Transfiguration”. It fills the icon with diffused light, penetrating and uniting individual colors. But unlike his great predecessor, he has more color, especially in the clothes of the women around the Mother of God. At the same time, soft pink, pale orange, blue and emerald tones dissolve in the light that fills the entire plane of the icon board. Thanks to the tenderness of tones, everything harsh and gloomy disappears from the dramatic plot, festivity and spirituality win. At the end of the 15th century, other excellent masters worked in Moscow next to Dionysius. In the “Six Days” icon, the six holidays are presented in the usual multicolor. The figures of those ahead, all in snow-white vestments against the background of gently illuminated halos, seem to be permeated with radiance. .

In the first half of the 16th century, icons still appeared in which the masters expressed the main thing in the language of colors. True, when perceived from a distance, icons with hagiographic stamps reign in them only multicolor, motley, and elegance. But in some icon stamps the expressiveness of color reaches great impact.

In the middle of the 16th century, icon painting became more and more dogmatic and illustrative. Color reacts with amazing sensitivity to this fracture. The colors fade and become cloudy. At the same time, the background of the icons plunges everything into twilight. The attempts of the Stroganov masters to revive the Novgorod flavor, to enrich it with golden assists, could not stop the development of icon painting.

Conclusion

As a result of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Each item in the icon is a symbol. One of the most complex symbols in an ancient icon is color. In Byzantium, color was considered as important as a word, because each of them had its own meaning. Studying from the Byzantines, Russian icon painters accepted and preserved the symbolism of color.

However, one cannot perceive the symbolism of color as a definitive set of signs. It is the color combinations that matter rather than the individual color element.

Color, like a word, has many meanings; several meanings are assigned to the same color in the Canon of Icon Painting.

Based on the color scheme, one school of icon painting can be distinguished from another. In the Novgorod school the predominant color is bright red, in the Tver and Suzdal schools it is green.

The icon shows things created and produced by Light, and not illuminated by Light. And, since the earthly world, revealed to us in the plot of the icon, and the Heavenly are two completely different beings, the image of the heavenly is conveyed differently - by the light of the icon and color.

The color and light of the icon have a maximum level, representing the ideal world, and a minimum, lower, symbolic level. The light of the icon makes holiness visible.

Literature

1. Selast, A.A / Secret writing of an ancient icon. Color symbolism // Science and Religion - 2012. - No. 9. - P. 14-21.

2. Visual means of the Orthodox icon and their symbolism. Light [Electronic resource], - URL: http://likirussia.ru/content/view/692/, free (access date 10/02/2014).

3. Platonova, O. /Symbolism of color in Orthodoxy //Fundamental concepts - 2009. - No. 2. - P. 20-23.

4. Icons of Russia. Collection - M.: Eksmo, 2009. - 192 p.

5. Nikolsky, M.V. / Statutory Orthodox painting as a phenomenon of spiritual culture of society // Analytics of cultural studies - 2010. - No. 1. - P. 5-9.

6. Language of the icon. Painting and Icon [Electronic resource], - URL: http://icons-art.ru/yazik-icon.html, free (access date 10/27/2014).

7. Symbolism of color in the icon [Electronic resource], - URL: http://www.vidania.ru/statyi/simvolika_zveta_v_ikone.html, free (access date 10/30/2014).

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