“Viktor Vasnetsov should be credited with the true beginnings of the revival of the iconographic form.”

It has been 66 years since the groundbreaking book “The Meaning of Icons,” by Ouspensky and Lossky was first published. The book is largely responsible for the modern revival of the art of iconography. The revival of the iconographic form has developed dramatically over the decades. There was time when an icon was only considered a proper icon if it was a copy of an historic prototype.

And then there were various prejudices, not only in determining what was and was not an icon, but also regarding who could properly be called an iconographer. I recall speaking once to an Orthodox monk who was of the opinion that if you were not an Orthodox monk, you had no business painting icons.

But these are internal arguments that for the most part are lost on the average church-goer. In recent years the revival has largely moved beyond these narrow conceits and the result is that we now have very talented artists presenting new work that In many cases surpasses the old masters, even while staying within the iconographic tradition.

It has been said that iconography is more than art. That may be true but it is also true that it is not less than art. And the nature of art and artists is to always be striving to improve, or for sacred artists, to present new epiphanies of the Divine. And it is not about “breaking the rules,” it is more about what can we do while staying within the rules?

By the second half of the 19th century, the art of iconography had all but disappeared in Russia. Existing icons in churches were usually dark and unreadable, hidden behind centuries of smoke and soot. There were few if any skilled enough to clean the old images, let alone create new ones. And society was divided between the common people who prayed over these dim images and the wealthy elite who saw them as vestiges of the past, a leftover from the Dark Ages.

In 1852 the Metropolitan of Moscow suggested the building of a cathedral to mark the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Kievan Rus. Construction began in 1862 and the cathedral was opened in 1882. The interior was painted and decorated by a number of artists including Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov.

Vasnetsov was born in 1848 in a remote village. His father was a priest and his grandfather painted icons. At the age of 10 he began his studies in a seminary and would spend his off hours working in a shop that sold icons.

After graduating from the seminary he moved to Saint Petersburg to study art. It took him a couple of tries to enter the Imperial Academy of arts but he eventually succeeded and became known for his historical and mythological paintings.

In 1884 he was commissioned to take the lead in painting the interior of the Kyiv cathedral. The work was challenging and over the course of the years he painted over 2000 square meters of the church. In addition to the icons he painted historic scenes in keeping with the theme around which the cathedral was built.

Vasnetsov’s work was unique it combined both a Western and Eastern aesthetic, not clearly in either tradition but owing something to both. And it was controversial. The art critic Vladimir Stasov referred to them as a sacrilegious, playing with religious feelings of the Russian people. Another popular critic, Dmitry Filosofov, referred to these frescoes as "the first bridge over the 200 years-old gulf separating different classes of Russian society.”

Vasnetsov himself compared his work to lighting a candle to God. His goal was to free the arts from the rarified air of museums and galleries and bring it to the wider public. He was convinced the best place to do this was the church as there was no work more suitable for an artist than decorating a temple.

His work on St. Volodymyr's Cathedral is now highly regarded and the iconographic character of his unique interpretation of sacred art is generally recognized.

However much we may critique and argue over the details of his work, we could do, and have done, much worse in the adornment of our sacred spaces.

Pontifex University is an online university offering a Master’s Degree in Sacred Arts. For more information visit the website at www.pontifex.university

Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com

For more information on original art, print and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org