Icon Art - Dr. Carole Taylor

“Art and faith were the two defining features of my childhood and adolescence. I was raised Protestant in a family of artists. Long afternoons were spent at my grandmother’s dining table, which had been covered to protect it from paint, glue, and solvent. I would watch my grandmother transfer her rosemaling pattern onto a prepared surface and carefully apply the loaded brush, attempting to preserve our Norwegian heritage for generations to come. In the safety of the warm, informal setting, I learned the joy of using my hands to create something beautiful. I learned patience. And I learned perseverance.

 

My family’s religious devotion meant attending church three times a week and countless hours in youth activities and service to the community. I was a naturally inquisitive child, and I loved attending church because it was the only place people were obligated to entertain my incessant questions about God and what it means to be Christian.

 

Yet these two things—art and faith—were never conceptually linked. There were no religious images in my church, only the bare cross that hung above the choir. So, I continued to pursue these passions separately.

 

That changed after my second semester of graduate school when I audited a drawing class from Duke University’s art department. My instructor was Ukranian, and during my portfolio review she fixated on a sketch I had forgotten I’d left in with my assignments. It was a sketch of Mary holding Jesus that I had copied from one of my art history books. She began telling me of the rich history of holy images in Russia. She shared that there was a Russian Orthodox school in America that taught the traditional technique of icon writing. At the time, I knew nothing about icons, but I was intrigued.

 

The following semester, I took a course in the Divinity School on Icon Theology where I learned of the tumultuous history of the status of images within Christian tradition. This resulted in my master’s thesis which focused on the role of Marian images in the early church’s development of Christology (i.e., doctrines on Christ).

 

The earliest waves of Christian iconoclasm took place in the eighth and ninth centuries. Those who opposed the invocation of images argued such a practice was against the Old Testament condemnation of idolatry. Those who upheld the use of images in Christian worship argued it was an inevitable result of the Incarnation.  St. John of Damascus wrote three treatises in defense of the divine images.

 

‘When he who is bodiless and without form, immeasurable in the boundlessness of His own nature, existing in the form of God, empties Himself and takes the form of a servant in substance and in stature and is found in a body of flesh, then you may draw His image and show it to anyone willing to gaze upon it. Depict his wonderful condescension, His birth from the Virgin, His baptism in the Jordan, His transfiguration on Tabor, His sufferings which have freed us from passion, His death, His miracles which are signs of His divine nature, since through divine power He worked them in the flesh. Show His saving cross, the tomb, the resurrection, the ascension into the heavens. Use every kind of drawing, word, or color.’ (On the Divine Images)  

 

By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, since the Second Council of Nicaea (787), the Church has declared the making and venerating of holy images is not only legitimate but is an integral part of Christian worship.

 

‘We decree with full precision and care that, like the figure of the life-giving cross, the revered and holy images, whether painted or made of mosaic or of other suitable material, are to be exposed in the holy churches of God, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways, these are the images of our Lord, God and saviour, Jesus Christ, and of our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer, and of the revered angels and of any of the saintly holy men.’ (Council Definition) 

 

After completing my master’s degree, I tracked down the Russian Orthodox school of icon writing my drawing instructor had mentioned. During my first workshop, I learned the technique, theology, and spirituality of traditional icon writing and my life was changed. Finally, my two passions were seamlessly intertwined.

 

Icon writing/painting has a long history of development in the Christian east. Historically, it is traced back to St. Luke who is said to have painted the first icon of the Blessed Mother. It is steeped in Christian theology and is continued today as a spiritual practice of prayer. The steps of creating the holy image correspond to scriptural meditations.

2 Corinthians 3:18, ‘And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.’

 

I have been practicing and teaching the history, theology, and spirituality of Christian holy images for over twenty years now. It continues to give me profound joy to share this rich spiritual tradition with others. Whether or not you consider yourself an artist, your prayer can be enriched from the practice of 'writing' the Gospel in line, form, and color.”