Aleppian school
by Eiad Touma

ِِApproach


Aleppo's iconography school is a unique phenomenon for couple of reasons cause its for the first time ever in the middle east the Christians of the east produced an iconographical style of there one since the Arabs- Sarsinians entered the aria yeah its special but its going along with the iconographic march in the Byzantine world (the word Byzantine doesn't mean that this art is for the Romans cause it’s a collective work of the Greeks Syriaks Armenians Copts Latin but it cant be done unless that collective bond)for that the march of Aleppo's icons are continuation to what happened in Greece and Serbia ,the specifications of the art are the same the garnishing the red/green frames and so as we see in the icons of Ivereon monastery and Serbia which belongs to the same period (holy mountain treasures, the icons of the world)But that doesn’t decline the strong and innovative art styles and the strong performance which are special stuff for a state than the other THE most important painters of this school are Yuseef,Nehmat Allah,Ananania,Gergis Which there icons comes along this family out of the father to his son and grandsons with huge diversions in taste and style ,invention, the factors of the flourishing of such a school are a lot but most of them are economical for the most imported goods for1/3to England at the Elizabethan period were out of Aleppo ,actually Aleppo were the biggest ever trade center at the middle east in the whole region so it was so clear to see since that age a lot of consulates for the western countries such alike

Venice ,Netherland,Italy ,France and see there merchants hanging around

And the Catholic missions were another reason for the growing of Aleppo for its turn in spreading knowledge, so Aleppo got a high level of knowledge which doesn’t exist in any place even in Istanpool(Constantinople) it self thus for its grate importance it was governed by the prime minister itself (Alsadr Alathem ) cooperating with the agent local governor (Pasha) but all this flourishing gone with the falling down of the Safawies dynasty at Iran which shakes the silk road all these factors led to the moving of the economical power to the commercial port of Aleppo which is Tripole,maybe our city known some flourishing in the 18sentury

Which is based on the local market but the days of the grate international power are gone.

The Aleppian iconographers

Actually the number of them are un defined for we got a huge production we find it even in Lebanon but the most famous of the are Almsur family that we mentioned above and in historical sequence are Yuseef,Nehmat Allah,Ananania,Gergis a little is known about them just they were a priesthood family that we know about them of there signatures on the icons, with 2 priests and one deacon

But there works are still talking till now

The father Yuseef of Aleppo

As the habit for the priest to study in the Greek islands so he was ,thus we can explain how he has learned iconography and his somber faces and strict faithfulness for the Byzantine tradions (the subject and its components),but we find a huge illness at painting nature which we see it as a plains full of colors that cannot hide this shallow such a like icons of saint Simon of the wonder mountain and the prefaces of the gospels (manuscript no6 Blamand)but that doesn’t low the Eastern ability of controlling colors but the bodies needs more controlling and so the clothes

Nehmat the son

this son's works are more controlled in gesture and sophisticate in gold to a very important deal and an extreme grade of gilding that we see at the iconostas of the Aleppian church in the Blamand monastery but in some icons we see his fathers personality but as soon he gots his own style as we see the both in the icon of dormiton and his complete own in the royal doors of Alhomera monastery and with that Aleppo school gots a new level cause of the Russian influence which Nehmat have seen in his ride with the Antiochian Patriarch Makarios Ibn Alzahiem

Ananania the grandson

The works here gots alittle interest at the golden backgrounds with Ottoman ornament like the father but a huge composition and controlling power which compared with the same level with icons of the world and sometimes excelled them like in Yessa,s tree at Blamand monastery ,the lord of the iconostas of the church of Aleppo and the syanaxis of the angels in the same one and the main icon of the lad at the same church

Gergis the last grandson

As we saw the top with his father we are descending with him which his works are so commercial with an anatomic –movement false and mistakes as we see in the icons of the iconostas of the cathedral of the roman catholic at Aleppo (the crucifixion -Mary Magdalena
Aleppo iconography school