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III
The Origins
cif the
Iconostasis
THE LAST DECADES of the disintegrating Byzantine Empire were, culturally and spiritually speaking, far from being its least glorious. l Among the great names of that epoch Bishop Symeon of Thessalonika has a place by reason of his liturgical commentaries. 2 Appointed bishop ~ometit:ne between 1410 and 1420, he died in September 1429, six months before the Turkish army by Murad II conquered the city. We are concerned here with his commentary on the Sacred Temple and particularly with he had to say about the screen which separated the sanctuary from chancel signifies the distinction between the sensible and the ,,.·ble; it is, as it were, a firm barrier between material and spiritual Being in sight of the altar, that is of Christ, its columns are of the Church itself, signifying those who strengthen us by their to Christ. Above the chancel the columns are joined by an decorated architrave signifying the bond of charity, which is communion in Christ between earthly saints and heavenly beings. is why a picture of the Saviour is placed here in the middle of sacred images. His Mother and the Baptist are on either side of him angels and archangels, the apostles and the rest of the saints. This Christ in heaven with his saints, Christ as he is with us now and who will come again. s
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West we are accustomed to call this screen which is such a feature of churches of the Byzantine rite an iconostasis. Bishop would hardly have understood the word in this sense. Its signifihim can be realized by reading a passage in an imperial Book s composed in the 14th century.4 According to this the remained in his apartments on 24 December, the Vigil of the instead of going out as was his usual custom. Towards the end an €lKOVOUTCJ.UWV was set up there, upon which were icons of the Nativity with one or two others. There followed of veneration. An ElKovou-rc1uWV was therefore quite literally upon which an icon to be venerated was displayed. We may t today in any church of the Byzantine rite. The Last Byzantine Renaissance (Cambridge 1970). commentaires byzantins de la divine liturgie du VIle all XVe siecle (Paris 136, MPG, elv, col. 345. Trait.! des offices dll Pselido-KodillllS 4 (Paris 1966), p. 189; cf. MPG, xcix,
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III I Strictly, therefore, it is wrong to call the screen separating the sanctuary from the nave in a Byzantine church by the name of iconostasis. The term is rejected in the most recent Greek encyclopedia, which prefers the word The confusion in words, like several others in Eastern religious terminology, is probably to be attributed to the Russians. They, in fact, accept respor,sibility not only for the word but also for the object. The erudite Russian icon-painter, L. Uspensky, says that the iconostasis acquired its classical form in the 16th century, when it became one of the most important parts of the Orthodox church. From Russia it passed to Mount Athos, and from there during the Turkish invasion it
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spread Greece andinthe The toiconostasis itsBalkans. classical form is a high screen completely nbscuring the sanctuary from the congregation in the nave. It is decorated with icons permanently fixed in place. These, set out in five rows, reveal the divine dispensation. In the topmost roW are the patriarchs with the prophets below them. Underneath the prophets are the festival icons and below these is the great Deesis, where the Virgin, the Baptist and saints turn towards Christ the Judge to intercede for mankind. On doors are represented the Annunciation, and either side are two usually of the Pantocrator and of the Virgin and Child. A number variants are possible according to the elaborateness of the iconostasis I docustom. not propose to go into the question whether the iconostasis in local classical