Ways of seeing

Portraits

I. ICONS

1. Christ

2. The Mother of God

3. John the Baptist, Angels, Saints

4. Liturgical Feasts

5. Iconostasis

6. Facial expressions

II. Parallels from Western Art

Annunciation

Nativity

Mary and Jesus

1. The icon and religious images

The issue of representation that is most basic to art is problematized in the Christian tradition from the beginning. The prohibition of representations in the Hebrew scriptures created a long tradition of iconoclasm in the East. This section starts with the analysis of the scriptural tradition and discusses the iconoclastic disputes of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Eastern Orthodox icon is compared to Western "religious art." The section concludes with a discussion of the main types of icons.

Project 1