Icons and Renaissance Realism

THE CHRISTIAN IMAGINATION’S TWO WAYS OF APPROACHING GOD: ICONS AND RENAISSANCE REALISM

The exhibition explores two great traditions in Christianity’s meditative approach to God.

One is the Icons that both Eastern and Western versions of Christianity used, and continue to use, in prayerful approach to the divine. It flourishes to this day, especially in Orthodox Christianity. The other is the realistic tradition which flourished in the Western church in the late Gothic and Renaissance periods and continues today.

The exhibition is done in conjunction with an icon writing class taught by Teresa Harrison (December 4-8). The enrichment of the viewer’s spirituality is the goal of both the Icon writing class and the exhibition of icons done in previous classes at the Cathedral, as well as several examples of the contrasting approach of realistic iconography in imagining the life of Christ on earth.

Jesus lived when late Greek realism flourished throughout the Roman Empire. Its imagery could be found on coins and in statuary which Jews resisted being placed in its sacred temple. Its imagery was used in a political and at the same time religious sense.

As Christianity grew, its imaginative iconography grew as well. Early Christianity adopted Roman realism in early imaginings of Christ as the Good Shepherd. It also developed more abstract images such as the ICTHUS and fish imagery.

As the Roman Empire approached its end in the era of Constantine the Great, there was a turn away from the Roman version of Greek realism. And Christian iconography began to produce more abstract imagery, “as it is in heaven”, that was more otherworldly than this-worldly. The great tradition of Christian Icons began and in one form or another continues to this day. The class being offered introduces its participants to this rich tradition.

Western Christianity developed, especially in the late Gothic period and In the Renaissance its own more realistic approach to God, who exists in heaven and is manifested in his Son, Jesus, “on earth as it is heaven.” This tradition continues in the West in popular imagery like Christmas crèches and realistic movie adaptations of the life of Christ. Both approaches have great usefulness in the prayer life of Christians.

The exhibition begins on November 19, 2023, and runs through January 14, 2024. At the end of the Icon Writing Class images created in the class will be added to the exhibition.