Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George. Early Byzantine Europe. Sixth or early seventh century C.E. St. Catherine's Monastery: Mount Sinai, Egypt.
Virgin and child between Saints Theodore and George
Early Byzantine Europe. Six or early seventh century C.E. Encastic on wood.
Early Byzantine Europe. Six or early seventh century C.E. Encastic on wood.
The composition displays a spatial ambiguity that places the scene in a world that operates differently from our world. The ambiguity allows the scene to partake of the viewer's world but also separates the scene from the normal world.
Context:
a transitional piece
- Classical Antiquity →→→ the height of Byzantine Christianity
- An amalgam of the Greek/Roman aesthetic and the emerging Byzantine aesthetic
- Greek/Roman Traits:
- Modeling (especially in the faces of each of the subjects!)
- Shadows (particularly in the shadow of the throne on the floor)
- Naturalistic features (drapery that falls as it would in real life, veins in the neck of the angels)
- Movement
- The Virgin is turned slightly at her hips
- a trace of dynamism
- a pose representative of a body that can move but is currently at rest
- The angel have their necks arched upwards
- Created in the era in which Constantinople was restoring and creating dozens of churches (AKA a time of artistic flourishment)
- As art become more of a part of daily life, icons and private devotional items became more popular and thus, pieces like Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George were created.
- Byzantine Traits:
- Compressed plane
- Very flat (with little attempt to create depth)
- Simple body positions (limited realism)
- Emotionless faces
- Front-facing figures (the saints)
- Huge, gold halos (to indicate divinity)
Form:
Size: 2' 3" x 1' 7 3/8"
An encaustic icon painting
"icon" = image, painting (in Greek)
encaustic = a painting technique that uses wax as a medium to carry the color (definition from Khan Academy)
- Uses gold leaf
Content:
Subjects = the Virgin, the Christ child, Saint Theodore, Saint George, two angels, God
- The Saints:
- St. Theodore = on the left & St. George = on the right
- flank the Virgin on either side
- positioned at the front of the frame (closest to our world of all the subjects)
- they stare directly at the viewer
- emotionless and erect
- their feet are lifted slightly off the ground (this is their only mark of divinity)
- they're ready to receive veneration from a viewer
- The Virgin:
- in the center of the icon
- seated on a throne -- elevated (removed from our world)
- does not make eye contact with the viewer
- highlighted by Heaven's light (connected to God)
- The Christ child:
- in the Virgin's lap
- hard to tell exactly where he's looking (but he's not making eye contact with the viewer, like his mother)
- The Angels:
- above and between the Virgin and the soldier saints (one on either side)
- looking directly upwards to the hand of God
- dressed in all white & have slightly transparent halos (both of these characteristics makes their holiness more tangible)
- highest in the frame and the furthest back (the most removed from our earthly realm)
- God:
- represented by the hand emerging from the center of the top of the icon
- his power/guidance is seen through the light emanating from the hand
- this light mostly lands upon the Virgin
- "Hierarchy of Bodies"
- Saints → Virgin+Christ → Angels → God
- this organization leads us to move our eyes upwards (and inwards), from "zone" to "zone"
- altogether, the positioning of these figures represents the path of holiness between the humans and God
- each individual "zone" of subjects is symbolic of a different level of relative closeness to God
- The architecture at the top of the painting helps close off and protect the holy scene
- makes use of spatial ambiguity to make the piece feel otherworldly and divine
Function:
A private devotional object (used to inspire the pious and help them express their veneration for God and enhance their spirituality)
Cross-Cultural Comparisons: A Work of Art Done by Many Artists:
- Terra-cotta Warriors
- Parthenon
- Koons, Pink Panther
