Icons

Fülszöveg

4Icon' comes from the Greek word 'eikon' meaning 'image'. The form originated from the tomb portraits of Ancient Egypt. Icons were among the first religious objects brought into Russia from Byzantium, at a relatively late date when Christian Art was already highly developed. The technique of the icon - the sacred picture of the Greek Orthodox church - had apparently reached perfection in the Byzantine world; yet the Russians were able to give it a new, national complexion and produce somé of the finest examples of the art. Icons were at first produced for use in churches and for carrying in processions, thus being fairly large in size, but as the icons became smaller so the demand for them as religious household objects in 15th Century Moscow grew, and they have remained an important feature in Russia's orthodox religious cultures to this day. The 65 plates in this book show work as beautiful in its distinctive way as that of the greatest Italian primitives, being the work of anonymous painters and of the few known individual craftsmen. The icons date from the 14th to the 17th Century, many belonging to the glorious School of Novgorod, once the cultural centre of Russia. Another source is the renowned schools of Rublev and Dionysus, these men being two of the handful of artists who escaped anonymity. In his introduction the author describes the techniques of the craft, the preparation of material and the generál principles involved, and gives a brief history of research into the subject. Detailed analytical captions are provided for each painting, and the reproductions of the icons themselves, all in rich colour, are of the highest quality. 330 x 228mm 65 full colour plates ISBN 185170 4329 Vissza