3.3 Secular I: Icon in public and private spaces

While the templon/iconostasis and the proskynetaria are the main location for panel-painted icons within a church, they also hold an important position for the Orthodox faithful within their secular surroundings, both public and private. At home, at least one room (usually the master bedroom) will have an icon of either Christ or of the Virgin and Child on one of its walls. Additional icons may be found in the remaining bedrooms and in the living room. The choice of the saintly person(s) is usually based on the protector saint(s) of the owner (i.e., the saints after whom they are named: for example, a male named Nicholas is highly likely to have an icon of Saint Nicholas; a female named Catherine is highly likely to have an icon of Saint Catherine). In fact, icons can be placed in any part of an Orthodox household, except the bathroom. It is very important to remember that their primary role is distinctly different from any other ordinary panel painting (e.g., a landscape) with which they may share space: their presence is linked to watching over and protecting the household and its members. This applies equally to the plain ones, as well as those with more complex finishing, such as metal revetments (commonly made of silver), or those with elaborate frames (Figure 8).

Maximise

Figure 8 (a) Portable triptych (Cretan) with the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and scenes from the Passion of Christ, late 16th century, tempera on panel, 18.3 x 33 cm (open: Crucifixion [central panel], Carrying of the Cross [left panel], Pieta [right panel]), 18.3 x 15 cm (closed: Flagellation [left panel], Resurrection [right panel])

Show description|Hide description

This is a photograph of a small wooden cabinet with two ‘doors’ that open outwards to display the triptych. Here the item is seen from the front with the doors opened. The inside of the doors are painted with the Carrying of the Cross (left door) and Pieta (right door). The inside of the cabinet depicts the Crucifixion.

Figure 8 (a) Portable triptych (Cretan) with the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and scenes from the Passion of Christ, late 16th century, ...

Figure 8 (b) and (c) Portable triptych (Cretan) with the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and scenes from the Passion of Christ, late 16th century, tempera on panel, 18.3 x 15 cm (closed: Flagellation [left panel], Resurrection [right panel])

Show description|Hide description

This is a collage of two further photographs of the portable triptych. In the first image, the open cabinet is seen from behind. There are scenes depicted on this side of the doors: the Flagellation (left door) and Resurrection (right door). The back of the cabinet itself in the centre is unpainted. The second image shows the closed cabinet. With the doors folded into place, the right door overlaps the left. This results in the Resurrection being the front image on the closed object.

Figure 8 (b) and (c) Portable triptych (Cretan) with the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and scenes from the Passion of Christ, late 16th ...

While an icon’s decorative function within a household is secondary, this does not mean that icons are not valued for the artistic quality they display – although outspoken appreciation of icons for their artistic quality and value was a later phenomenon, directly related to the European Renaissance. In fact, the shift of the status of the artist in the Renaissance, with the latter acknowledged as the creative force behind artistic production, also changed the prevailing and long-standing anonymity of the Byzantine artist into eponymous appreciation. Fame for the majority of Byzantine artists was restricted to God: they were content with the knowledge that He ‘[Lord] knows their names’ – a phrase which describes a belief that, to a certain extent, may account for the shortage of named artists in Byzantium. This, however, began to change with the Renaissance appreciation of artists with an outreach even to Byzantine icon painters who started signing their work (Lymberopoulou, 2007c, p. 175).