How to read icons (a manual for everyone). How to learn to read icons Key and book, Peter and Paul

Previously, even illiterate people understood very well what this or that plot depicted on the icons meant, which characters were secondary and which were the main ones, they understood the meaning of their every gesture, any movement...

In order to read and correctly understand an icon, in addition to a good knowledge of the Bible and other religious legends, you need to know the language of symbols, because in icon painting almost every character expresses, in addition to himself, some other character, and sometimes not just one, entity.

For example, the eastern sages, the Magi, who came to worship the newborn Christ, simultaneously personify three human ages: youth, maturity and old age, therefore they were given a corresponding appearance on the icons. What symbolic thought is contained in this image? It can be read like this: all humanity, both old and young, must bow to the new faith, i.e. Christianity.

Or Joseph, the earthly, adoptive father of Jesus, an obligatory participant in the compositions “The Nativity of Christ.” When he is depicted talking with a shepherd, this is a very specific character, Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth... But on some icons Joseph is depicted sitting alone, with his eyes half-closed. In such cases, this figure is interpreted as the personification of night peace, the silence that descended to earth at the hour of Christmas.

All characters in icons, unless they are ordinary people, are depicted with halos above their heads. A halo is a symbol of holiness or divinity. But they are not the same in shape. God the Father has a star-shaped halo, Christ has a cross-shaped halo, Our Lady, angels and saints have round halos. Moreover, the star means deification, and the circle means eternity, eternal life.

There are many different allegories in icon painting. A virgin in a royal crown and robe on a throne is spring; a winged naked youth blowing into a trumpet is the wind; elders and youths, sometimes women, with narrow-necked amphorae or urns in their hands from which water flows, are the personification of streams and rivers.

Certain properties of human character are also symbolized by images of certain animals. Slow, always moving backwards, cancer, for example, personifies inertia and moral ignorance.

Of particular importance are those objects that the saints hold in their hands and by which they can be easily distinguished from each other. Thus, the Apostle Peter is usually depicted with a golden key in his hands. Why? According to legend, Jesus made him his viceroy on earth and gave him the keys to the Christian church. When Saint Nicholas is depicted as Nicholas of Mozhaisk (from the city of Mozhaisk, which, according to legend, he defended from enemies), then in one hand he can see a temple, and in the other - a naked sword...

One should also not be surprised that on the same icon one can see an event developing over time. The ancient masters were able to convey on one icon a whole story at once, its beginning, development and end, as well as what happened before the main event and what will happen after it. Moreover, most often the episodes do not follow sequentially, but interspersed with each other. But this not only does not interfere with the perception of the icon, but, on the contrary, even enhances the impression, because in the icon it is not reality that is perceived, but its spiritual content contained in symbols.

On October 23, 787, the Ecumenical Council established the order of veneration of icons, which has survived to this day. Until the 16th century, even illiterate people could “read” icons

7 pictures via

1. BOTTOM UP
Icons should be read from bottom to top, as if rising from the earthly world to the heavenly one. Saints are often depicted standing on earth, but reaching to heaven - this was, metaphorically speaking, their path in life. Sometimes at the bottom of the icon there are important attributes, details of the lives of saints that are not striking if you do not examine the image sequentially. In ancient icons, even the board of the frame plays a role; it is the border between our world and the world represented in the icon - the spiritual one. In the Syrian and Egyptian deserts it was not so easy to get a tree, much less a linden tree - also a symbolic plant.

If you look closely at ancient icons, the line between the frame and the image is usually written in color - most often red. This border is called “husk” (like a thin film in seeds that “husk”), it symbolizes the border between the earthly and mountain worlds, and it is red because this border, this transition, was given by blood...

2. ATTENTION TO THE BACKGROUND
The background on the icon plays an important role, like everything else - they say that not a single millimeter of the icon is written meaninglessly, just like that. In the most ancient times of Christianity, the background of icons was painted in detail to show the reality of the events that took place on them. Later, the reminder of reality will become less important for the icon. Much more often now we see a plain background: gold or white. These two colors are the highest in the Byzantine tradition. White is the color of paradise, and icons that have it in the background clearly show the person standing in front of them that the action is taking place in paradise. Gold color is the color of holiness and a special, immaterial radiance. In addition, gold does not change color, it is permanent and is associated with eternity. Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ to gold tested in the crucible.

Icons of saints sometimes depict the places of their lives and deeds. So, for example, the Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Saints is painted against the background of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra; Mary of Egypt is depicted against the background of the desert; Blessed Xenia - against the backdrop of St. Petersburg and the church at the Smolensk cemetery. There is a famous icon of John of Shanghai, it depicts a pavement and a taxi - what this saint lived among.

3. SYMBOLIC COLORS
We have already talked about the white and gold colors on the icon. But other colors also have their own symbolic meaning, and it may be interesting to know that there is a color that you will not find on canonical icons. This color is grey, a color made by mixing white and black. In the spiritual world, heaven and hell, holiness and sin, good and evil do not mix, and darkness cannot embrace the light. Therefore, for icon painters who treat color as an image endowed with meaning and never choose a color arbitrarily, “for beauty,” gray is not needed.

The color red has several meanings. This is the color of blood, the color of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, the people depicted in the icon in red clothes are martyrs. The wings of the seraphim archangels close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. But red is also a symbol of the Resurrection, the victory of life over death. There are even icons with a red background - a sign of the triumph of eternal life. The red background always fills the icon with an Easter sound.

Blue and cyan colors correspond with the sky, the other, the eternal world and wisdom. This is the color of the Mother of God, who united in herself both the earthly and the heavenly. So you can always recognize the Mother of God Church by its blue domes.

4. DECODING ATTRIBUTES
Even the smallest attributes on icons give us “keys” to their understanding. The Russian Seven has already touched on this topic, for example, in an article about the Burning Bush icon. What are the most common attributes of saints on icons? Crosses in the hands of saints usually mean that this person accepted martyrdom for his faith.

Often what they became famous for is given into the hands of the saints on the icon. For example, on the palm of Sergius of Radonezh they write the monastery founded by him. Saint Panteleimon holds a box of medicine. The saints and evangelists on the icons hold the Gospel. Reverends - rosary beads, like Seraphim of Sarov, or scrolls with sayings or prayer, like Silouan of Athos.

Sometimes the attributes of saints are unexpected, surprising, and can only be understood by knowing their lives. For example, Saint Tsarevich Demetrius can be depicted on icons wearing a crown (although he was not crowned), often with nuts in his hand, which he played with before his death.

Or the amazing icon of the holy martyr (we read it by the cross in his hand) Christopher, instead of whose head it is depicted, surrounded by a halo, the head of... a dog. This is an exaggerated episode from life: the martyr Christopher prayed to God to take away his beauty in order to avoid temptations and make him terrible.

5. UNDERSTANDING FIGURES
The figures on the icons are also symbolic. So, for example, a square or rectangle, on which the saint’s feet often stand, means something human - our earth and the fact that the action takes place in the lower world. In figures with a large number of angles, this number is symbolic: a hexagon introducing the theme of the six days of creation, an octagon with Eternity, and so on.

A circle is a figure without corners, which is perfect, symbolizes the fullness of being, and is often depicted on icons of the creation of the earth. In addition, halos are shaped like circles. And on the icon “Rejoices in You,” for example, the entire figure of the Mother of God is inscribed in a circle (mandorla) - a symbol of Divine glory. And then the outlines of the circle are repeated again and again - in the walls and domes of the temple, in the branches of the Garden of Eden, in the flight of mysterious, almost invisible heavenly forces at the very top of the icon.

6. PERSPECTIVE AND PARTIES
Everyone who is interested in them has heard about reverse perspective in icons. It is no secret that the reverse perspective emphasizes that it is not the person standing in front of the icon who is the center of the world, but the One who seems to be looking at him from the icon. But what is rarely talked about in connection with the reverse perspective is the sides. After all, if an icon is painted “from a different point of view,” then its right side (for us) becomes the left side (for it) and vice versa. And the parties also have their own symbols. The right side (from the point of view of internal organization, i.e. left for us) corresponds to the foreground (and present time), and the left side corresponds to the back (and future time). This helps us understand many icons, such as the iconography of the Last Judgment, in which the righteous are represented on the left of the viewer and the sinners on the right, rather than vice versa.

Publications in the Traditions section

How to learn to read icons

The Russian icon is a complex system of images and symbols, where every detail and color has a meaning and hides a whole story behind it. Interesting features can tell us about the time of creation of the icon, its artist and school of painting. Read what you can learn by looking at an icon if you are new to ancient Russian art.

Wooden base

Icons, especially in ancient times, were created strictly according to technology. They wrote them on pre-dried wooden boards. Most often they took linden, ash, and imported cypress. Resinous species - spruce, pine - were used less frequently, since they required complex preparation and long drying. If the boards were not dried enough, they often cracked, and liquid rich in essential oils flowed out of the cracks in drops. In addition, the cut of such a tree could be covered with a resinous film, which interfered with the application of a pictorial layer.

The block was necessarily cut from the core of the log, since in this part the wood deforms less when drying. If the icon is slightly bent, most likely the craftsmen took a different part of the wood.

Often, not a solid wooden base was used, but a glued one. The bars were connected to each other using a special solution and polished. On icons with glued canvas, dowels are visible on the reverse side - narrow planks that span almost the entire width. They were inserted to ensure that parts of the canvas did not deform or move.

Medieval craftsmen strengthened the canvas in another way. On the front side, they removed the top layer of wood everywhere except for narrow strips around the perimeter. The result was a flat depression in the center - an ark - and frames along the edges. This design made the canvas more resistant to curvature. The Ark also served other functions. The main image was applied to it, so the frames protruding along the edges helped to protect the faces from scratches. It was easier to cover the image with drying oil: the product did not flow out of the ark. With frames, the icon looked more harmonious and created the feeling of a window into the world of saints.

Preparatory layer

Before applying the painting layer, the craftsmen prepared the base. First, pavoloka, a special linen fabric, was attached to the tree. It was of rare weaving, “liquid” - so that the next layer, gesso, would seep through the threads.

Gesso was made in different ways; each icon painter had his own recipe. But more often, craftsmen mixed adhesive solution and chalk. Glue was bought or made from substances resembling modern gelatin. For plasticity, linseed oil was added to it.

Only fresh gesso was used, so it was made in the volume required for the canvas. For the first layer, more glue was added to the composition than chalk, and for the second, vice versa. On ancient icons, in places where they are chipped, you can see a white layer - this is gesso.

Often faces were painted without pavilion, but almost never without gesso. On embossed icons, gesso was applied in a thick layer, and on carved icons - in several thin layers.

Painting layer and frame

Icons were painted with tempera paints; many workshops still use them today, despite the availability of oil paints. The fact is that tempera hardly darkens over time. The sarcophagi of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt were painted with it, and these ornaments have still retained their color.

In Rus', paint was made using imported or local pigments. For example, blue was obtained from Greek lapis lazuli, and reddish-yellow ocher was made from simple clay and iron oxides - rust or other compounds. The shade of ocher depended on the proportions: the more iron oxide, the more saturated the color.

Powder pigments were diluted with natural emulsions - raw egg yolks or a whole egg. When the paint layer dried, its surface became matte, and if a little linseed oil was added to the egg mixture, then, on the contrary, it became glossy. The icons that we can see today are covered with a transparent protective layer. Nowadays they use varnish, but in ancient times craftsmen prepared drying oil: linseed oil was boiled under special conditions. It was then applied over the main image and onto the frames.

If small holes are visible on the front of the icon, it means that it was previously in a frame. These holes are traces of small nails that were used to attach thin metal plates to a wooden base. The frame was minted from copper, brass, and precious metals. Floral ornaments were embossed on the frame, and if the metal covered part of the icon, then the embossing on it repeated the design on the board. The frame not only protected the icons from damage, but was also part of the composition - it symbolized the light that emanated from the saints.

Masters and schools

Andrey Rublev. Trinity (fragment). 1411 or 1425-1427. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Already by the 14th century, several icon painting schools had formed in Rus': Vladimir-Suzdal, Moscow, Novgorod, Vologda, and later Palekh, Stroganov and others. Each of them had its own characteristics. For example, the Novgorod one was distinguished by hammered writing, a rich palette and large elements, while the Vologda one, on the contrary, was distinguished by elegant painting and a slightly lightened tonality. Stroganov's writing is easy to recognize by the carefully painted faces, miniature scenes in the composition, as well as landscape panoramas with rivers and ravines, flowers and animals. Palekh ancient icons are more decorative, with an abundance of decorations, often in reddish-golden tones.

In different centuries, schools influenced each other and adopted certain features. Artistic subcenters were formed, which used their own painting techniques. In monasteries they took on complex icons for churches, and peasant masters chose simple subjects for family icons. Individual icon painters stood out: Theophanes the Greek and Daniil Cherny, Andrei Rublev and Simon Ushakov.

Age of icons

Karp Zolotarev. The Virgin and Child (fragment of an icon in the Fryazhsky style). XVII. Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after. Andrey Rublev, Moscow

You can also see signs of the times on the icons. If the face is painted without the ark, it means that the icon is no more than 300 years old, since images began to be painted on a flat surface only in the 18th century.

At the same time, Fryazhian writing appeared - painting in the manner of Western European temple paintings. The figures of the saints were depicted in three dimensions, and the landscape was realistic. And icons with the sky instead of an ocher background began to be painted in the 18th–19th centuries. Such images should be distinguished from blue-backed icons, which were created in some schools back in the 16th century. Since the 18th century, oil paints could be used in icon painting.

The age of rarities can also be judged from the inscriptions. Until the 15th century, craftsmen used the charter. The letters in the statutory letter had angular outlines, their proportions fit into a square, and the words merged into a continuous line.

Pronounced gaps in phrases can be seen in 17th-century icons. From that time on, icon painters used complex Cyrillic script with teardrop-shaped letter elements and an abundance of superscripts. This font is still used in icon painting today.

The Holy Fathers called the icon the Gospel for the illiterate. However, the icon cannot be perceived as a simple illustration of holy scripture. Many people turn to God and patron saints through it. That is why a certain canon has emerged - how to paint icons correctly. Icon painters pay special attention to the depiction of faces and, of course, gestures, because they are of great importance and carry a certain meaning.

On October 23, 787, the Ecumenical Council established the order of veneration of icons, which has survived to this day. Until the 16th century, even illiterate people could “read” icons

1. BOTTOM UP

Saints are often depicted standing on earth, but reaching to heaven - this was, metaphorically speaking, their path in life. Sometimes at the bottom of the icon there are important attributes, details of the lives of saints that are not striking if you do not examine the image sequentially.

In ancient icons, even the board of the frame plays a role; it is the border between our world and the world represented in the icon - the spiritual one.

In the Syrian and Egyptian deserts it was not so easy to get a tree, much less a linden tree - also a symbolic plant.

If you look closely at ancient icons, the line between the frame and the image is usually written in color - most often red.

This border is called “husk” (like a thin film in seeds that “husk”), it symbolizes the border between the earthly and mountain worlds, and it is red because this border, this transition, was given by blood... 2. ATTENTION TO THE BACKGROUND

The background on the icon plays an important role, like everything else - they say that not a single millimeter of the icon is written meaninglessly, just like that.

In the most ancient times of Christianity, the background of icons was painted in detail to show the reality of the events that took place on them.

Later, the reminder of reality will become less important for the icon. Much more often now we see a plain background: gold or white. These two colors are the “highest” in the Byzantine tradition.

White color - the color of paradise, and icons that have it in the background clearly show the person standing in front of them that the action is taking place in paradise.

Golden color - the color of holiness and a special, immaterial radiance. In addition, gold does not change color, it is permanent and is associated with eternity.

Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ to gold tested in the crucible.

Icons of saints sometimes depict the places of their lives and deeds.

For example, Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Saints is written against the background of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra; Mary of Egypt is depicted against the background of the desert; Blessed Xenia - against the backdrop of St. Petersburg and the church at the Smolensk cemetery.

There is a famous iconJohn of Shanghai, it depicts a pavement and a taxi - what this saint lived among.

3. SYMBOLIC COLORS

We have already talked about the white and gold colors on the icon. But other colors also have their own symbolic meaning, and it may be interesting to know that there is a color that you will not find on canonical icons.

This color is grey, color , obtained by mixing white and black. In the spiritual world, heaven and hell, holiness and sin, good and evil do not mix, and darkness cannot embrace the light. Therefore, for icon painters who treat color as an image endowed with meaning and never choose a color arbitrarily, “for beauty,” gray is not needed.

Red color has several meanings at once. This is the color of blood, the color of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, the people depicted in the icon in red clothes are martyrs.

The wings of the seraphim archangels close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. But Red color - This is also a symbol of the Resurrection, the victory of life over death. There are even icons with a red background - a sign of the triumph of eternal life. The red background always fills the icon with an Easter sound.

Blue and cyan the colors correspond to the sky, the other, the eternal world and wisdom. This is the color of the Mother of God, who united in herself both the earthly and the heavenly.

So you can always recognize the Mother of God Church by its blue domes.

4. DECODING ATTRIBUTES

Even the smallest attributes on icons give us “keys” to their understanding. The Russian Seven has already touched on this topic, for example, in an article about the Burning Bush icon. What are the most common attributes of saints on icons?

Crosses in the hands of saintsusually mean that this person accepted martyrdom for his faith.

Often what they became famous for is given into the hands of the saints on the icon.

For example, onpalms of Sergius of Radonezhthey write a monastery founded by him.

Saint Panteleimonholding a box of medicines.

Saints and EvangelistsThe icons contain the Gospel.

Reverends- rosary beads, like Seraphim of Sarov, or scrolls with sayings or prayers, like Silouan of Athos.

Sometimes the attributes of saints are unexpected, surprising, and can only be understood by knowing their lives.

For example,Saint Tsarevich Demetriusmay be depicted on icons wearing a crown (although he was not crowned), often with nuts in his hand, which he played with before his death.

Or amazingicon of the holy martyr (we read this by the cross in his hand) Christopher, instead of whose head there is depicted, surrounded by a halo, the head of... a dog. This is an exaggerated episode from life: the martyr Christopher prayed to God to take away his beauty in order to avoid temptations and make him terrible.

5. UNDERSTANDING FIGURES

The figures on the icons are also symbolic.

For example,square or rectangle,on which the saint’s feet often stand, means human - our land and the fact that the action takes place in the lower world.

In figureswith a lot of anglesThis number is symbolic: a hexagon, introducing the theme of the six days of creation, an octagon - with Eternity, and so on.

Circle- a figure without corners, which is perfect, symbolizes the fullness of being, and is often depicted on icons of the creation of the earth.

In addition, halos are shaped like circles. And onicon “Rejoices in You”For example, the entire figure of the Mother of God is inscribed in a circle (mandorla) - a symbol of Divine glory.

But what is rarely talked about in connection with the reverse perspective is the sides. After all, if an icon is painted “from a different point of view,” then its right side (for us) becomes the left side (for it) and vice versa. And the parties also have their own symbols.

Right side(from the point of view of internal organization, i.e. for us left) corresponds to the foreground (and present time), andleft- with backward (and future) tense.

INcenterAn icon usually depicts the most important thing - that is, from the point of view of what (or Whom) it tells.

For example, the compositional center of the famous"Trinities" by Andrei Rublevis a cup that is blessed by the hands of angels. The entire movement of the prayer’s inner gaze occurs around this bowl (let us remember here the symbolism of the circle).

Often the gospel is the picturesque center of the icon.

The perspective of the icon seems to unfold from him; the side edges of the book are painted in bright colors. “We see the cover of the Gospel, but the bright edges growing in depth show how incomparably more important is what is behind this cover,” writes one of the researchers.

source http://mi3ch.livejournal.com/

Until the 16th century, even illiterate people could “read” icons, and one icon sometimes replaced dozens of sermons.

Down up

Icons should be read from bottom to top, as if rising from the earthly world to the heavenly one. Saints are often depicted standing on earth, but reaching to heaven - this was, metaphorically speaking, their path in life. Sometimes at the bottom of the icon there are important attributes, details of the lives of saints that are not striking if you do not examine the image sequentially. In ancient icons, even the board of the frame plays a role; it is the border between our world and the world represented in the icon - the spiritual one. In the Syrian and Egyptian deserts it was not so easy to get a tree, much less a linden tree - also a symbolic plant.
If you look closely at ancient icons, the line between the frame and the image is usually written in color - most often red. This border is called “husk” (like a thin film in seeds that “husk”), it symbolizes the border between the earthly and mountain worlds, and it is red because this border, this transition, was given by blood...

Attention to the background

The background on the icon plays an important role, like everything else - they say that not a single millimeter of the icon is written meaninglessly, just like that. In the most ancient times of Christianity, the background of icons was painted in detail to show the reality of the events that took place on them. Later, the reminder of reality will become less important for the icon. Much more often now we see a plain background: gold or white. These two colors are the highest in the Byzantine tradition. White is the color of paradise, and icons that have it in the background clearly show the person standing in front of them that the action is taking place in paradise. Gold color is the color of holiness and a special, immaterial radiance. In addition, gold does not change color, it is permanent and is associated with eternity. Scripture compares the martyrs who suffered for Christ to gold tested in the crucible.
Icons of saints sometimes depict the places of their lives and deeds. So, for example, the Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Saints is painted against the background of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra; Mary of Egypt is depicted against the background of the desert; Blessed Xenia - against the backdrop of St. Petersburg and the church at the Smolensk cemetery. There is a famous icon of John of Shanghai, it depicts a pavement and a taxi - what this saint lived among.

Symbolic colors

We have already talked about the white and gold colors on the icon. But other colors also have their own symbolic meaning, and it may be interesting to know that there is a color that you will not find on canonical icons. This color is grey, a color made by mixing white and black. In the spiritual world, heaven and hell, holiness and sin, good and evil do not mix, and darkness cannot embrace the light. Therefore, for icon painters who treat color as an image endowed with meaning and never choose a color arbitrarily, “for beauty,” gray is not needed.
The color red has several meanings. This is the color of blood, the color of Christ's sacrifice. Therefore, the people depicted in the icon in red clothes are martyrs. The wings of the seraphim archangels close to the throne of God shine with red heavenly fire. But red is also a symbol of the Resurrection, the victory of life over death. There are even icons with a red background - a sign of the triumph of eternal life. The red background always fills the icon with an Easter sound.
Blue and cyan colors correspond with the sky, the other, the eternal world and wisdom. This is the color of the Mother of God, who united in herself both the earthly and the heavenly. So you can always recognize the Mother of God Church by its blue domes.

Attribute decoding

Even the smallest attributes on icons give us “keys” to their understanding. What are the most common attributes of saints on icons? Crosses in the hands of saints usually mean that this person accepted martyrdom for his faith.
Often what they became famous for is given into the hands of the saints on the icon. For example, on the palm of Sergius of Radonezh they write the monastery founded by him. Saint Panteleimon holds a box of medicine. The saints and evangelists on the icons hold the Gospel. Reverends - rosary beads, like Seraphim of Sarov, or scrolls with sayings or prayer, like Silouan of Athos.
Sometimes the attributes of saints are unexpected, surprising, and can only be understood by knowing their lives.
For example, Saint Tsarevich Demetrius can be depicted on icons wearing a crown (although he was not crowned), often with nuts in his hand, which he played with before his death.
Or an amazing icon of the holy martyr (we read this by the cross in his hand) Christopher, instead of whose head it is depicted, surrounded by a halo, the head of... a dog. This is an exaggerated episode from life: the martyr Christopher prayed to God to take away his beauty in order to avoid temptations and make him terrible.

Understanding Shapes

The figures on the icons are also symbolic. So, for example, a square or rectangle, on which the saint’s feet often stand, means something human - our earth and the fact that the action takes place in the lower world. In figures with a large number of angles, this number is symbolic: a hexagon introducing the theme of the six days of creation, an octagon with Eternity, and so on.
A circle is a figure without corners, which is perfect, symbolizes the fullness of being, and is often depicted on icons of the creation of the earth. In addition, halos are shaped like circles. And on the icon “Rejoices in You,” for example, the entire figure of the Mother of God is inscribed in a circle (mandorla) - a symbol of Divine glory. And then the outlines of the circle are repeated again and again - in the walls and domes of the temple, in the branches of the Garden of Eden, in the flight of mysterious, almost invisible heavenly forces at the very top of the icon.

Perspective and sides

Everyone who is interested in them has heard about reverse perspective in icons. It is no secret that the reverse perspective emphasizes that it is not the person standing in front of the icon who is the center of the world, but the One who seems to be looking at him from the icon. But what is rarely talked about in connection with the reverse perspective is the sides. After all, if an icon is painted “from a different point of view,” then its right side (for us) becomes the left side (for it) and vice versa. And the parties also have their own symbols. The right side (from the point of view of internal organization, i.e. left for us) corresponds to the foreground (and present time), and the left side corresponds to the back (and future time). This helps us understand many icons, such as the iconography of the Last Judgment, in which the righteous are represented on the left of the viewer and the sinners on the right, rather than vice versa.

Center icon

In the center of the icon, the most important thing is usually depicted - what (or Whom) it tells about from the point of view of what. For example, the compositional center of the famous “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev is a bowl, which is blessed by the hands of angels. The entire movement of the prayer’s inner gaze occurs around this bowl (let us remember here the symbolism of the circle).
Often the Gospel is the picturesque center of the icon. The perspective of the icon seems to unfold from him; the side edges of the book are painted in bright colors. “We see the cover of the Gospel, but the bright edges growing in depth show how incomparably more important is what is behind this cover,” writes one of the researchers.