Christianity in art has played a significant role, because since its inception, a great many icons, as well as mosaics on a religious theme, have been painted. The history of Christianity has more than two thousand years, while it is one of the three world religions. It had a huge impact on the worldview of a person, over all this time a myriad of churches and temples were built all over the world. Many great artists worked to decorate them, so we can safely say that religion and art are very intertwined here.
Art in the West
In fact, the spread of Christianity took place under various conditions in the East and in the West, therefore, certain differences were also observed in art. For example, Christianity in the art of icon and mosaic in Western Europe had a more realistic character, the artists there preferred to give their creations the maximum degree of truthfulness.
This led to the emergence of a completely new type of art - art is new. It is characterized by the fact that the icon gradually became a full-fledged picture, but with a religious plot, because the icon painters spoke about the gospel story, trying to accurately display all, even the smallest details.
Art Nova and Jan van Eyck
The Art Nova trend also touched on the art of the East of Europe, where the writing of icons and mosaics acquired an intuitive and religious-mystical connotation. A similar thing happened in the Netherlands in the 15th century. The first painter who decided to depict a picture that had nothing to do with religion was Jan van Eyck - he created a portrait of the four Arnolfini.
In fact, it was a real breakthrough of that time, because people were first depicted in their everyday environment without any religious connotation. Until that time, the separation of concepts such as religion and art seemed impossible. Nevertheless, if you look closely at the symbols depicted in the picture, you can observe the presence of the Holy Spirit in the smallest details of the interior. For example, on the chandelier during the day only one of all the candles was lit - this is precisely what testifies to his mystical and mysterious presence in the newlyweds' room Arnolfini.
Symbolism in icons and mosaic
The role of Christianity in art cannot be underestimated, because it was it that formed the whole culture of past centuries and influenced the worldview of an ordinary person. At the same time, the style of writing icons and mosaics is somewhat peculiar, and it would be impossible to understand all the details if it were not for the concept of psychology and the characteristics of that culture.
Symbolism is sometimes multilayered and difficult enough to understand, because it is designed primarily for the viewer to actively perceive it. Iconography - Christianity in art - is completely saturated with symbols that are not so easy to decipher, they should be understood on an intuitive level.
Character Decoding
In fact, if we consider the ordinary thing, then the symbol itself will “look” at us. In any case, one should take into account all the Christian symbols, as well as the canons that reigned in the art of the Middle Ages. They turned to the feelings of a person and to his subconscious, and not just to the mind. Since there can be several meanings for one symbol, then, considering the icon, you should choose the one that will not contradict the style and spirit of this era, the general system, and also time.
For example, if we talk about numbers, then the number 7 means a symbol of completeness, as well as completeness of the action. After all, there are seven notes, seven deadly sins, seven days of the week, or seven virtues.
The meaning of colors in icons and mosaics
If we talk about the colors that are used when writing icons, then the blue color is a symbol of everything spiritual, greatness, incomprehensibility of mystery and depth of revelation. The golden color has always symbolized the radiance of Divine glory that has descended upon all saints. That is why the golden color has the background of the icon, the radiance around Jesus, which illuminates all those around him, the halo of saints or the clothes of the Virgin, as well as of Jesus. This, according to painters, most successfully emphasizes their holiness and the fact that they belong to the world of unshakable and eternal values.
Christianity in art gave yellow a certain symbolic meaning - it means the highest authority of angels. Some researchers are of the opinion that it is simply a replacement for gold.
Even now, we are of the opinion that the white color symbolizes purity, as well as purity. This is the so-called involvement in the divine upper world, therefore, the clothes of Jesus and all the righteous on absolutely any icon or mosaic were depicted in white. The most revealing example in this regard will be the song “Last Judgment”.
Black is the exact opposite of white, therefore its meaning is also the opposite - it is the maximum distance from the Lord, involvement in hell, or the black color can symbolize melancholy, despondency and grief.
The artists tried to convey purity as well as righteousness in blue, which is why it was also called the color of the Virgin.
Red always depicted someone who has power and great power. Red is the royal color, which is why the cloak of the Archangel Michael, who was considered the leader of the heavenly army, as well as St. George, who was the victor of the serpent, was written just like that. But such a symbol had more than one meaning, therefore, it could also mean martyrdom or atoning blood.
Often there was a green color in the painted icons, because it is to this day a symbol of eternal life, eternal flowering. Among other things, he is attributed to the color of the Holy Spirit.
Gesturing in icons
All painters paid special attention to gesturing the main characters of their icons and mosaics. Christianity in art - discussion of this topic took quite a lot of time from experts, therefore, not only the colors that are used were touched on, but also gestures, their spiritual and sacred meaning.
For example, if the hand is pressed to the chest, then this always meant cardiac empathy. If it was lifted up, it was a silent demand or a call to repentance. If the hand was portrayed stretched forward, while with the palm open, then this is a kind of sign of obedience, as well as humility. If the hands were stretched forward and raised a little, then this could be a prayer for peace, for help, or a gesture of request.
If both hands were pressed to the cheeks, then this meant that a person experiences sadness and sorrow. Such gestures are the most common, but, of course, there are many others that are sometimes difficult to describe even for experienced professionals.
Christianity in art was very sensitive even to objects that were depicted in the hands of the heroes of icons. For example, the apostle Paul was most often portrayed with the gospel in his hands. Much less often, he was depicted with a sword in his hands, which symbolized the Word of God. It is characteristic of Peter that he was portrayed with keys in his hands from the kingdom of God. Plants - the symbols of Christianity in art - are also found quite often, for example, the martyrs were depicted with a palm branch, because it is a symbol of belonging to the Kingdom of Heaven. Prophets usually hold scrolls with their prophecies.
Language icons
Art from the point of view of Christianity is a "continuation" of the gospel. All gestures, objects and colors that are depicted on the icon are combined into an indescribable gamut of energy that it radiates. This is a peculiar language of the icon with the help of which masters of the past turn to us, trying to make us look into the depths of the human soul and reflect on the mystical meaning of the Christian faith. From ancient times it was believed that the eyes are a mirror of the soul, therefore, artists actively used this.
To make their characters more expressive, they deliberately bent the proportions of their faces, making their eyes larger than they should be. In their opinion, this will emphasize the eyes, and the viewer will think that they are more soulful.
Changes in the image of the face of saints
Starting from the 15th century, in Rublev times, this practice ceased. But, despite the fact that the eyes were already depicted by the masters as not so large and languid, they still paid a lot of time and attention. Among other things, several innovations have appeared. For example, Theophanes the Greek depicted saints on their icons with empty eye sockets, or simply with their eyes closed. It was in this way that he tried to show that the eyes of the saints are always directed not at worldly being, but at the contemplation of the higher world, at inner prayer, they seem to be aware of the divine truth.
Figures of saints on icons and mosaics
Each person, looking at the icons, noted to himself that the saints seemed somehow very light, as if they were floating in the air. A similar effect was achieved by artists due to the fact that they depicted the figures of saints less densely than all those around them, they drew them in several layers, while specially lengthening and stretching them.
Such a technique gave the viewer the impression of lightness and lack of physicality of the bodies of saints, their volume was overcome. According to the idea, this led to the fact that they seemed to soar above the ground, and this should be a direct expression of their transformed state, as well as spirituality.
Background of the icon and its meaning
Despite the fact that the central part of the picture has always been occupied by a person, the background that is shown behind him is also important. As a rule, artists even tried to put their own meaning into it, thereby pushing art lovers to think long about the secret that they wanted to pass on to them.
The most frequently depicted mountains, chambers, various trees, which in the general composition form a picturesque landscape. If you plunge headlong into the symbolic load of all this, then the mountains indicate a complex and thorny path of man to the Lord God. In fact, separately depicted trees were given secondary importance. But, nevertheless, the oak, which is often portrayed, has always been a symbol of eternal life. The vine and the cup against the background were considered symbols of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but the dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.
The formation of the symbolism of Christianity
Many believers claim that the sacraments of Christianity itself were created from the all-consuming chaos of paganism. That is why the art of Christianity was not able to get any uniform form. It was as if created from a multitude of the smallest pieces. Some symbols were taken from the pagan faith, from Islamic art. Therefore, now medieval masterpieces can be classified not only by such parameters as Eastern and Western Europe, but also by many others. The visual art of that time was in no way able to abandon the heritage of antiquity, gradually turning it into something completely new. The sources of the theological tradition of the sacred image should have been lost forever for us in history, in the darkness of the pre-Constantine era. Among the prototypes that are directly related to such a tradition, they call the image of Christ on the Shroud or on the Mandilion, which was lost in Constantinople during its plunder by the crusaders. No less important is the image of the Mother of God, which is attributed to St. Luke. The authenticity of such images is extremely doubtful, but, nevertheless, they have been successfully used for many centuries. Jesus and the Virgin Mary are depicted as described in numerous works of martyrs of past centuries - this is where Christianity and anti-Christianity are similar in art.