Page 48 - Monograph Max

Byzantine art has achieved to elevate the object of classical Greek creativity—the classical proportion, rhythm, line, beauty of imita-
tion—to a mode of being which participate in the metaphysical light . It was achieved by using the vi- sual language which through the light liberates the beings from gravity and impenetrability, temporality and mutability, decay and inertia, and the necessity of structure. In this perspective, a few elements—lo- gos (principle), tropos (a hypostatic mode of exis- tence), and rhythm—proved to be of decisive role in giving the priority of the telos (eschaton) over history. This (eschatological) light establishes the relation between the graphic and chromatic elements of Byz- antine art.
Now, one of the most important aspects of Byz- antine art (and theology) is the triple schema lo- gos-tropos-telos (principle-mode-end goal). How- ever, none of these “concepts” can be isolated . The logos is rather a pointer toward the end guiding the being to its eschatological future. On the other hand, the tropos (mode) is a free modification of nature by a person (influencing feely the color, rhythm, and line). The tropos demonstrates a personal mode of existence by which nature is freely hypostasized. Fi- nally, the telos (end) is the ultimate goal of all beings which paradoxically is present in the beginning in order to attract creation towards itself. God created
the beings from nothing—so, the icon expresses the life not based on outline but on the light, which gives life. The modeling of the forms in the composition of Byzantine icon also follows the same logic (or logos).
It is exactly the possibility of modification that led to new solutions in Byzantine art. The free and flexible conduction of light on the beings displays a modified existence with its inner rhythm and puri- fied form. It seems to me that the Christian art as a point of departure does not have the line, but the light (phōtagōgic is more important than the graph- ics).
This display of light (phōtohysia) in the icon is impressive. According the Byzantine system of light- ing, it is diffused freely, not necessarily in a straight line, and thus succeeds in overcoming shadow and illuminating objects so fully that they become identi- fied with their visual images. To put it simply, life in Christ doesn’t depend on the contours (line and out- line), but on the light.
Plasticity of the forms is another contribution of the Byzantine art. Although the line (gramme) as the problems was solved by classical Greek art, he holds that the Byzantine artists created a different ethos of line. Many have noticed that Byzantine icons have “faults” compared to ancient sculptures. There are big eyes, emphatic long noses, strong expressions, and, very often, elements of hyperbole, but the whole
The Future of Iconography
Bishop Maxim
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