Icons are made by icon painters, who consider themselves to be believers first and foremost and artists second. There are also some icon painters in our Art Gallery - My Art Gallery. You can find works of Kristina Sorina and Tatjana Kosach. The icon painter never considers his work to be his personal, individual artistic achievement, and thus he does not sign his work. The only name that appears on the icon is the name of the saint or holy figure depicted. The icon painter works with other icon painters in workshops and abides to a canon called the Podlinnik. This is a handbook of traditional patterns or designs which are traced onto the surface of the icon in order to create the desired image. The icon painter never improvises or works arbitrarily, but rather paints purposefully, abiding by the dictates of church tradition.
While icons can be created in various kinds of material, including mosaic, the typical icon is a form of painting on wood. First, the surface of a flat wooden board is smoothed with an adze (an axlike tool with a curved blade at a right angle to the handle) and then covered with a layer of gesso (a preparation of plaster and glue). Sometimes the board is covered with a layer of canvas (a linen cloth) and then another coating of gesso. When the gesso hardens, the board is polished to create a shiny, smooth surface. Using a stencil, the outline of the desired image is traced onto the board. Next a background is applied. When this has dried, the painter creates the image or scene using pigments tempered with egg or wax. This technique is similar to western medieval tempera painting. After the painting is completed, it is typically covered with a layer of flax-seed or olive oil which temporarily enhances the colors, but after time, darkens. The surfaces of the old Russian icons were often repainted to enliven the colors, but, ultimately, this made the icons turn even darker. Restoration of icons in the early twentieth century made it possible to remove the layers of repaint and see the original, vibrant colors of the icons.
The frame of the icon is not attached separately, but consists of a flat border created by cutting back the central portion of the panel. Beginning in the fourteenth century, the finished icons were sometimes covered with highly decorated metal panels. By the seventeenth century, the metal frames had become so elaborate that they concealed all but the faces and hands of the figure depicted.
The image itself is not purely naturalistic, because the goal of the painter is not to create a realistic image, but rather one that contributes to a religious experience. The emphasis in the icon is on mystical, eternal qualities and, thus, categories of space and time are not deemed significant. A balance is sought between what is known through the senses and what is known through the emotions. An inverted perspective is used, one unfamiliar to the modern, western viewer accustomed to paintings created using rules of perspective discovered in the Renaissance. The inverse perspective used in icon painting is based on the idea that the most important figure in the composition should be dominant and centrally-placed; thus, figures are often very large and out-of-scale in proportion to their surroundings and the background. The figure are also usually removed from their interior space and moved out into the open. Another distinguishing feature of icon painting is the fact that the source of light in the icon is not a natural source, but the “inner” light of the saint himself, whose eyes are usually quite large, focusing attention on the internal world rather than the external.
One of the most venerated icons in Russia is The Virgin of Vladimir, which was painted in the early twelfth century. It is one of the earliest examples of the Umilenie or “Tenderness” type of Virgin and Child (one of this icon examples you can find on our Art gallery). It is now exhibited in the Tret’iakov Gallery in Moscow.
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