Summary of Week 2

Congratulations – you have now reached the end of this course on the Byzantine icon.

You should now have a basic understanding of what an icon is, as well as the origins and the concept of the Byzantine icon. It should be clear that icons are the most important vehicle for worship for the faithful of Christian Orthodox belief. You should also realise that Byzantine art holds a very important role in the development of European art historic culture, spanning beyond the boundaries of religion. Finally, you should have developed basic skills in ‘reading’ an icon: remember that the first step is to simply observe and describe an icon; in turn, this will point to a Gospel and/or biblical narrative which will help you in identifying its iconography.

If you’re interested in pursuing this topic further through formal study, you might be interested in the OU’s BA in Art History and Visual Cultures [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . This degree includes the level 2 Art History module A226 Exploring Art and Visual Culture. In 2024 there will be a new module, A237 Art and life before 1800, which will include Byzantine Art.