Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus-SANA- The art of icon painting constitutes a reflection of religious ideas or events through embodying them in all their details in the form of paintings bearing a spiritual and historical character.
Syria is unique being one of the first countries to innovate in this rich artistic field and contribute to transmitting it into the world.
Speaking to SANA, historical researcher, Elham Mahfoud, defined icons as paintings spread on the walls of churches that tell the stories of prophets and saints and have formed over time a means of telling people the teachings of the Christian religion, stressing that the icon is a recognized term in the Eastern Church to denote sacred images.
Regarding the emergence of this art in Syria, Mahfoud explained that with the foundation of the Byzantine state since the sixth century AD, figurative decorations made of mosaics began to appear in temples and churches, along with the art of icons embodying Christian religious themes, as they were often painted on panels of wood with a copper frame with their themes reflecting the popular and spiritual heritage of the peoples of the region.
The roots of this art go back to pre-Christian times in the Greek and Roman eras, when artists drew human faces on wooden panels, but the Byzantine Church adopted it as a tool of persuasion, contemplation, and reverence to overturn the concepts of pagan beliefs and replace them with the concept of the Christian religion, explaining that this art originated in the Levant and was influenced by ancient Syrian art, including Palmyrene one, according to the researcher.
The icon is a means of teaching through image, shape, and color, and each one has ideological and educational connotations that are reflected through its basic elements such as the background and the parts of face and body, Mahfoud said, noting that each color used has a specific meaning. Red, for example, suggests worldly life because it is the color of blood and fire, which remind of reward and punishment, and brown refers to austerity and asceticism, while green indicates divine incarnation, and blue, with its hues, suggests glory and power, whereas black indicates death.
The most represented topics in icons are the stages of the life of Jesus Christ, religious events, images of the Virgin Mary and the saints, said Mahfoud.
The art of icons was concerned with the inclination to spiritual depth, by showing eyes searching for influence in the viewers and telling them about faith and existential secrets hidden through that silent look, which inspire the ability of meditation and insight in the eyes of its onlookers, Mahfoud demonstrated, stressing that each icon has two appearances; external one that are visible to the naked eye, and other symbolic one imitating the soul through colors.
Mahfoud spoke about important Damascene figures who had a great impact on preserving the aesthetics of icons, such as Ananias of Damascus and John of Damascus, who said that when his thoughts are disturbed and prevent him from concentrating intellectually, he heads towards the church and contemplates the dimensions of the divine icons that fascinate his eyes attract and elevate his soul, and motivate him to glorify the Creator, so he can regain peace and serenity.”
Mahfoud stressed Syria’s role in preserving this national wealth, which during the ongoing wars in the region was exposed to theft and devastation, through documenting all the archaeological icons found in Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.
The Ministry of Tourism also constantly holds local and international exhibitions to introduce these unique archaeological treasures.
ALI, Baraa
