THE ICONOGRAPHIC CANON: «ORTHODOX ICON» VS «RELIGIOUS ART»

Abstract

In this scholarly article, the author presents a theological, cultural, and artistic explanation about the iconography canonized by traditional ecclesiastical structures and different realistic (non-church) painting. On the basis of the author's own observations, the basic features of the canonical icon and the opposite of the secular picture (non-canonical from the church point of view) of the religious genre were investigated. In the publication the author gives a brief explanation of the features of the iconographic canon, the basic theological beliefs about the possibility of describing or depicting the canonized by the Ecumenical Church of the saints on icons. The author also discusses the basic theoretical and practical issues of realistic painting.