"Is it possible to teach Byzantine art? Can it be circumscribed within a set of artistic rules and principles that can be explained and demonstrated?" These are the questions with which George Kordis, Assistant Professor of Iconography at the University of Athens, begins his book. "Icon as Communion." This book is not an explicitly academic work, but instead an insight into the mind of an artist. It is a gathering of Kordis' thoughts, notes, and sketches, accompanied by his reflections on the holy art of Iconography.
Contents
Introduction
1
1. Role of Line in Byzantine Icon Painting
5
The function of line in creating the inner rhythm of the icon
8
The projector, or perspectival, function of line and the communion between icon and beholder
10
2. The Features of Line Byzantine Icon Painting
13
3. Sketches with Commentary
19
Head in frontal pose
19
Face in frontal pose
20
Dynamic frontal pose
21
Dynamic frontal pose with vertical axes
22
Dynamic frontal pose with covered axes
22
On drawing hair and beards
27
Head in the three-quarters stance
29
Dimensions of the human form
34
The stance in single-figure icons
34
Human figure divided into eight sections
37
A figure placed dynamically in pose of the inverted S
38
The seated figure
40
On drawing buildings and landscape
44
4. On Composition in the Byzantine Tradition
47
The theological significance of the church and the philosophy of composition in Byzantine
48
On the origin of the artistic principles of Byzantine art
51
The Byzantine Optical System
52
The fundamental principles of composition in Byzantine art
53
I. The abolition or superseding of artistic depth
53
II. How composition if refined or purified
55
III. The figure or composition moves out toward the beholder
57
5. Icons: An Aesthetic Reading
63
6. Drawings/Sketches
87
About the Author
103
Paperback:
103 Pages
Publisher:
Holy Cross Orthodox Press
ISBN:
9781935317098
Product Dimensions:
7.5 x 9 x 0.3 inches
Publication Year:
2010
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