The Church used pictorial art to explain its Orthodox teachings, which were intertwined with the lives of believers with vitality and living the tradition, especially when it was difficult for the Church to highlight its doctrines due to the caution imposed by persecutions. The goal of church art was to highlight the figures who lived the faith, so that believers could emulate them in their struggle against the forces of evil and to protect, guide and encourage believers to reach martyrdom as the Savior, his apostles and martyrs did. Art provided this service through its symbols, carrying a spiritual goal and including a doctrinal content expressed in form and colors. Believers in the early ages understood the great ideas of the new faith through simple symbols such as the “fish,” the “lamb,” the “shepherd,” and the “peacock.”

After the victory of Christianity, the depiction changed from symbolic to historical. After the iconoclasm and the victory of Orthodoxy, the doctrinal aspect of icon art became clear. The all-powerful officer in the dome represents the Father and the Son together. The doctrine of the Mother of God was expressed by the Virgin on the throne carrying her Son in her lap. Likewise, after the iconoclasm, the throne (έτείμασις τοϋ ξρόνου) was drawn as an expression of the doctrine of the Second Coming.

The Art of Spiritual Service

Since the faith of the Church is spiritual and heavenly, it was natural that it should be primarily concerned with showing the beauty of the spiritual world. This is not something that is easily expressed. While the ancient Greek world focused on the ideal by showing the goodness and beauty of nature, the Church, in showing the ideal, in Orthodox art, focused on expressing the state of holiness.

The Christian Church did not believe that beauty was limited to the natural beauty of things but to their content. Therefore, St. John Chrysostom said: “We say that every vessel, animal, or plant is good, but not in its composition or color. But in the service it performs.” The icon does not depict nature as it is and does not rely on form and color as its purpose, but it uses these elements with good technique because they are necessary for the believer to become familiar with the spirit of the icon.

liturgical art

Art in ancient monuments showed the basic Eucharistic meanings based on the interpretations of the Holy Fathers. Since artists put their artistic expertise at the service of the Church and its lofty goals, iconographic art became a liturgical art with lines and colors in making believers understand the mysteries of the liturgy. In the catacombs we find the image of the fish that symbolizes the Eucharist, and in Alexandria and Jerusalem we find the image of the miracle of the multiplication of the fish and the loaves as a symbol of the Divine Liturgy. Likewise, the drawing of the lamb that symbolizes the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In the catacombs also are images of the three youths in the fiery furnace, the Prophet Daniel in the lions’ den, and Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, which was considered a symbol of the holy offering. Such liturgical themes define the liturgical pictorial circle that forms a link between the circles of doctrines and feasts.

For example, when the Church calls us to leave worldly concerns in order to receive the King of all, who is accompanied by angels, Orthodox painting comes to help you practically to understand the matter as clearly as possible. The angels are depicted expressing the awe of their offering to God, and the apostles approach to receive from the hand of the Lord with the same reverence. These two icons demand to be understood in the same spirit that they present. It should be noted that no art in the world has achieved a complete and precise expression of its content as much as the icon has given and highlighted its contents. In Mystas, the icon of the angels gives the viewer a vision of the heavenly world, and in fact, Orthodox painters, with their style and technique, have succeeded in interpreting the Cherubim to raise the faithful to a high level of liturgical participation. A mere comparison between the depiction of angels in Orthodox iconography and angels in Western iconography is enough to clarify the idea of the icon and its purpose as liturgical art.

I believe that the importance of Orthodox painting has become apparent as a liturgical art that aims to make the content of the liturgy understandable to the faithful, especially the Holy Eucharist.

The Art of Sublime Theology

Orthodox icons are not just a religious decorative art, they are also theology. In the West, churches are decorated with icons representing the Way of the Cross and the Passion of Christ, while Orthodox churches are decorated with icons of saints and feasts, because we emphasize not only the Passion but the whole life of the Lord Jesus. “While there is silence on the wall,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa, “painting speaks of useful things.”

The cross on the dome of the church makes people feel that they are under the protection of the sign of the Lord, which expresses the Christian teaching. The dome has become a symbol of heaven, and the Almighty is both the Father and the Son, which is an expression of the equality of the Father and the Son in essence. The Almighty shows that the Lord is the Creator, Savior and Ruler.

In the quarter sphere above the altar, we depict the Virgin Mary carrying Jesus, surrounded by two angels. This quarter sphere is the architectural section that unites the ceiling with the earth, and this is appropriate for the Virgin, as she is the human being who united the heavens and the earth by giving birth to Christ.

Thus, the icon has a role in highlighting the doctrine and indicating the life of faith. Orthodox painting highlights the glorified world that was reborn by divine love where the sun never sets. Orthodox art is not concerned with the natural physiological form, but rather tries to use it as an expression of thought and faith. It is not a personal art, as it does not express the personal perception of the artist as much as it expresses the importance of the incidents of divine revelation.

The Orthodox artist tries to raise the world of faith beyond the present world and our artists have succeeded in highlighting the differences between the saints depicted in icons and other people connected with the present world. In contrast, Western painting has not succeeded in showing the difference between the spiritual and material worlds.

Orthodox photography is a profound art.

If we start from impressionistic assumptions to judge the Byzantine Orthodox icon, which is an expressive art, we will be wrong and will understand it with limitations, as was the case in the West. Since Orthodox art is an expressive art, it addresses the feelings and the soul as well, since its goal is not to produce an external impression, but rather to leave an impact on the soul.
This statement becomes clearer if we examine the icons of the Crucifixion in Western art and compare them with their counterparts in Orthodox art.

Archimandrite Panteleimon Farah
Quoted from Orthodox Heritage Magazine