The Multi-Layer Composition of A Iconostasis
The Multi-Layer Composition of A Iconostasis
DOI: 10.15290/rtk.2017.16.3.15
Tatiana Misijuk
Politechnika Białostocka
The paper indicates a complex meaning of the iconostasis both in sacred art
and the liturgy of the Orthodox Church. Selected examples illustrate a process
of historical development of the iconostasis, contemporary variety of forms
and its influence on worship celebrated in the Orthodox church.
Key words: icon, iconostasis, sacred art, symbol, canon of iconography, history
of art, liturgy.
cathen/07626a.htm (15.04.2016).
2
Iconostasis in F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone (editors), The Oxford Dictionary
of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, Oxford/New York/Toronto
1990, p. 688.
3
Ikonostas, in T. Gogacz, B. Milerski (editors), Religia. Encyklopedia PWN,
Warszawa 2002, v. 4, p. 506.
222 Tatiana Misijuk
churches”4 and “it may be said to differentiate the Greek church com-
pletely from the Roman in its interior arrangement”5.
In a majority of generally accessible explanations the iconostasis
is perceived mainly as a screen, partition, wall, barrier separating
the central part of a church, the nave, where a congregation gathers
for worship, from a presbytery or sanctuary, where the sacrament of
Eucharist is celebrated. Although in fact it stands between the two
parts of the Orthodox church and as a wall of icons it may appear as
a screen or partition, its meaning and its role in a spatial arrangement
Theology of the Orthodox church as well as its liturgical function is completely
of beauty different.
In order to comprehend a multilayer meaning of the iconostasis
there is a need to study history of its development and to indicate
above all its unique place in the Orthodox Christian worship. It is also
necessary to explain the function of icons.
History
An initial form of the iconostasis may be seen in a low barrier placed
between the nave of a temple and its sanctuary. The form and height
of those screens varied. Sometimes they were solid low walls or bal-
ustrades, at other times they were higher latticed screens or a row of
columns with an architrave. Soon icons began to be placed between
columns under the architrave and later on over it.
Studies have shown that at first an icon of the Savior appeared ini-
tially under the architrave, and later on over it, immediately over the
Royal Door in the middle of the screen. Soon it was accompanied by
icons of the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist making up a triptych
referred to as Deisis (Gk. Δέησις – prayer or supplication). The three
figures could appear on one long wooden panel or on three separate
icons. Prof. Leonid Ouspensky considers that this particular triptych
of the sanctuary screen, brought from Byzantium to Kievan Rus, to
be the initial form, from which iconostasis gradually evolved on Rus-
sian soil6. The evolution consisted in adding to the triptych more icons
of Saints and increasing the number of tiers with icons. By 13th and
14th century Orthodox churches in Rus were fit with extended iconos-
tases with several rows. In 15th century the iconostasis took its final
4
L. Ouspensky, V. Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, Crestwood, New York 1989,
p. 59.
5
See Iconostasis in Catholic Encyclopedia, op. cit.
6
Ouspensky, Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, op. cit., p. 59.
The multilayer composition of an iconostasis 223
Theology
of beauty
Fig. 1. 4th century basilica in Ohrid (according to the re-
construction by A. Orlandos).
shape as known today and in 17th and 18th centuries that form spread
from Russia to other Orthodox countries7. The centuries-long evolu-
tion of the iconostasis from a balustrade to a five-story icon screen is
confirmed by columns, engaged columns and pilasters still present
among the icons on it. Although they do not play their original role,
they remain a characteristic component of its decor.
Experts assert that up until the end of 4th century the dimensions of
the iconostasis did not prevent the believers from following the liturgi-
cal mystery taking place in the sanctuary. Paul Evdokimov asserts that
the reason for development of the iconostasis, a gradual filling in the
space between the sanctuary and the nave with icons, was didactic – it
was “to teach visually by showing the faithful the economy of salvation
7
Ibidem.
224 Tatiana Misijuk
Theology
of beauty
in the same row of icons. The icon of the Mystical Supper is located
right above the Royal Door.
In the fixed classical composition of the iconostasis10 in its upper
rows there appear the icon of Deisis – prayer, supplication of the
Mother of God and St. John the Baptist before the Enthroned Christ
the Savior, extended by additional figures of Saints and Angels (1). The
following three rows are filled with icons of the Resurrection of Christ
and the twelve major liturgical feasts (2), as well as the Old Testament
Prophets (3) and the Patriarchs (4).
In the construction of the iconostasis one can see a wide range of Theology
artistic resources: a pithy composition, spatial form, material used, of beauty
its features, colors, light, texture etc. While pondering upon the used
means, forms or material one should not pass over the fact that the
most important in the iconostasis is the icon with a broad range of its
media of expression. One should keep in mind the function of the ico-
nostasis in the Orthodox liturgical service and take into consideration
what it is actually about to show the believers through the icons placed
in it. All the forms and means are designed not so much to provide
the iconostasis with the fullest artistic expression, its “beautification”,
as to the best possible introduction of the faithful into the mystery of
Sacrum.
Therefore, in making an iconostasis, while using any possible tech-
nologies: wood, stone, pottery, glass, metal work or various combina-
tions of them, it is important to make sure that the plastic means char-
acteristic to given technology do not dominate over the icons which
are to be “framed” by them. Decorative chiaroscuro of carving, overly
sharp contrast in texture and structure of the stone, artificial lighting,
“excess of form” in the iconostasis may cause that the flat icon, devoid
of chiaroscuro but rich in its meaningful symbolism of color, becomes
“drown out/choked” and shut out. In order to allow the iconostasis to
fulfill its role truthfully, it is necessary that every aspect of its form –
a composition of all its elements – should affirm the icons.
Here are selected examples of contemporary iconostases.
10
See the 16th century iconostasis at the side altar of the Nativity of the Virgin
Mary at St Sophia cathedral in Novgorod which is used as an example in vari-
ous studies of the subject provided by Ouspensky, Lossky The Meaning, op. cit,
p. 61 and 62; M. Quenot, Icon. Window on the Kingdom, SVS Press, Crestwood,
NY 1997, p. 49 and O. Popova, E. Smirnova, P. Cortesi, Ikony. Ikony różnych
kręgów kulturowych od VI w po czasy współczesne, translated by T. Łozińska,
Warszawa 1998, p. 12.
226 Tatiana Misijuk
Theology
of beauty
Theology
of beauty
Fig. 5. Hermitage of the Holy Spirit in Fig. 6. Royal Door of the main iconosta-
Mesnil Saint Denis, France. sis – an icon of the Annunciation to the
Virgin Mary.
Theology
of beauty
Theology
of beauty
off from the divine service, symbolism loses its meaning and becomes
a series of sterile abstractions”11.
Thus the church is a place set apart on the earth, the place of Sacrum,
dedicated to God, sanctified, so arranged and fitted as to help the be-
lievers to continue their earthly way, their move to the most important
aim of Christian life which may be described as an ascent to heaven.
The symbolism of the Divine Liturgy clearly points to remembrance
(Gk. anamnesis) of Christ’s teaching and His salutary sacrifice, the
Savior’s life from His Nativity in Bethlehem to the Ascension. During
the Divine Liturgy the remembrance is being made present. The as-
cent can be also seen in a spatial arrangement of the Orthodox church
which refers to a tripartite division of the Old Testament tabernacle
of Moses and the Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. In the church the
believers pass through two stages of the earthly space. They enter
through the vestibule (Gk. narthikos, Cs. pritvor). It is a kind of prepara-
tion, prelude or a buffer zone between the turmoil of a street, an inner
disorder and a prayerful concentration. The “narrow gate”, the “eye
of a needle” brings into the nave (Gk. kyrios naos, Cs. khram) where
the believers stand in front of a gate of a further unearthly ascent.
The gate is the iconostasis which appears on the border between the
earthly nave and a heavenly presbytery with its holy altar (Gk. hagia
trapeza – a holy table, Cs. prestol – a throne), on which the Sacrifice
11
L. Ouspensky, The Symbolism of the Church, in The Orthodox Ethos. Studies in
Orthodoxy, vol. I, edited by A.J. Philippou, Holywell Press, Oxford 1964, p. 153.
The multilayer composition of an iconostasis 231
12
Ouspensky, Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, op. cit., p. 60.
13
Ibidem.
14
Ibidem.
15
Ouspensky, The Symbolism, op. cit., p. 161.
16
Ibidem.
17
Ibidem.
232 Tatiana Misijuk
Theology
of beauty
Fig. 13. The iconostasis in a school chapel of St. Cyrill and St.
Methodios in Białystok. Design – Tatiana Misijuk, icons – Dariusz
Fiedorczuk.
25
Ibidem.
236 Tatiana Misijuk
illuminated. The form of the iconostasis exhibits two main icons – the
Virgin Mary with the Child and the Savior. The expansion of the ico-
nostasis turns into a form of a “candlestick” which leads into the altar
part by the fire of candles and the “cloud of saints” of frosted glass.
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wych od VI w po czasy współczesne, translated by T. Łozińska, Warszawa
1998.
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