THE PROBLEM OF ICONOGRAPHIC CANON IN ORTHODOX CHURCH PAINTING

Abstract

The article is devoted to the formulation of the problem of the iconographic canon and to the study of the specifics of canonical works in Orthodox church painting. For this purpose, we study the relationship between the artistic-aesthetic canon in general and the iconographic canon in particular. To clarify the semantic content of the concepts “iconographic canon” and “iconography”, a distinction is proposed between the terms “iconographic model” and “iconographic type”. The specifics of the Eastern Christian iconographic canon are studied in the context of the special gnosiological role of visual arts in the system of Orthodox culture, which determined the features of iconographic symbolism. General and specific principles of the canonical system are formulated, revealing the religious-philosophical and artistic-aesthetic integrity of iconographic images intended for the non-rational expression of divine revelation and acting as a connection between the “earthly” and “celcetial”, immanent and transcendental levels of being.