Old Believer Icons: Photo

Beginning the conversation about the difference between the Old Believer icons and those we used to see in our Orthodox churches, we will return three and a half centuries ago, in order to more clearly imagine, against the backdrop of what historical events this type of icon painting, which is very rare in our day, has developed. What is the phenomenon of the Old Believers and what causes it?

The essence of the reform of Patriarch Nikon

Old Belief in our country arose in the middle of the XVII century, resulting from a split that shook the entire Russian Orthodox Church. The reason for this was the reform carried out by Patriarch Nikon. Its essence boiled down to the fact that in order to eliminate the numerous deviations from the initial order of worship that came to Russia from Byzantium, it was prescribed to re-translate the Greek books from Greek, and on the basis of them to make appropriate changes to the liturgical rite.

In addition, the reform also affected the external ritual forms, replacing, in particular, the habitual two-aperture adopted during the illumination with the sign of the cross, on the trefoil, which has survived to the present day. There were also changes in the canons, which provided for the order of writing icons.

The popular protest, which ended in a split

This reform, rational in its essence, but carried out hastily and ill-conceived, caused an extremely negative reaction among the people. A significant part of the population refused to accept innovations and obey the church authorities. The conflict was aggravated by the fact that the reform was carried out under the auspices of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and all her opponents were accused of disobeying the sovereign, which gave the matter a political color. They began to be called schismatics and persecuted.

As a result, an independent religious movement was formed in Russia, a breakaway from the official church and called Old Believers, as its followers continued to stick to the pre-reform canons and rules. It has survived to the present day, having been transformed into the Russian one-church church.

What icons are called Old Believers?

Since the Old Believers believe that from the moment of the reform it was the official church that deviated from the true "drevlepravoslavnoy" faith, and they remained its only bearers, then in most cases the icons of the Old Believer church correspond to the traditions of Old Russian writing.

In many respects this same line can be traced in the works of the masters of the official church. Thus, the term "Old Believer Icons" should be understood only those who, in their writing, disagreed with the canons established during the reform.

The icons of the Savior taken from the Old Believers

The most characteristic in this respect is the icon, called "The Savior of Good Silence." It depicts Jesus Christ in the form of an angel crowned with the eight-pointed crown of God the Father and clothed in a royal tunic. Its name was received due to the corresponding inscriptions on it.

Such an icon is found only among Old Believers, since the canons of the official church forbid depicting Christ as the Creator of the universe in the form of a created being, that is, a created being, which is an angel. As is known from the Holy Scripture, the Lord created the whole visible and invisible world, which included both the angelic rank and the spirits of darkness.

In addition, the forbidden official church, but common among the Old Believers, includes two more images - "The Savior of the Wet Beard" and "The Savior of the Old Eye". On the first of these, Christ is represented with a wedge-shaped beard and a left eye larger than the right one, as well as a wedge-shaped beard. On the second icon He is written without a halo, which completely contradicts the accepted norms, as well as with an elongated head and a dark, poorly discernible face.

Examples of the Virgin icons and images of saints

Old Believers' icons of the Mother of God also have their own distinctive features . The most common among them is "The Mother of God Fire." It is distinguished from the usual conventional leads (varieties) of the Virgin icons, the predominance of fiery red and scarlet tones in the general color scheme, which was the reason for its unusual name. The Mother of God is represented on her alone, without the Child. Her face is always turned to the right side.

The icons of the Old Believer saints are also sometimes quite original and controversial. Some of them can sometimes cause confusion in the casual viewer. Among them, in particular, is the icon of the martyr Christopher-Psegolovets. On it, the saint is depicted with a dog's head. Omitting the argument of such an interpretation of the image, we only note that this icon, along with some other similar stories, was banned by a special decree of the Holy Synod in December 1722.

A special place is occupied also by Old Believer icons depicting the most famous figures of the past religious schism, revered as saints, but not recognized by the official church. It is, first of all, the leader of the Old Believers' movement, Protopope Avvakum, who was executed for his activity in 1682, the fanatical devotee of the ancient piety Boyaryna Theodosia Morozova, and the founder of the Vygovskaya bespopovskaya community Andrey Denisov. Old Believer icons, photos of which are presented in the article, will help visualize the characteristic features of this kind of church painting.

Common characteristics of Old Believer icons

In general, we can talk about a number of characteristic differences common to the bulk of icons adopted by the Old Believers. These include a large number of inscriptions made in the fields and over the picturesque layer. Also, icons made on boards are characterized by dark, sometimes barely discernible faces, whether it be the Old Believer icon of the Mother of God, the Savior or some saint.

But this question is not exhausted. There is one more important feature, which you can easily learn Old Believer icons. The difference between them and the official is often expressed in the fact that the saints are depicted holding hands in a two-fingered fold.

In addition, the fundamental difference is in the writing of the abbreviation of the name of Jesus Christ. The fact is that among other requirements, the reform established the rule of writing in it the two letters "AND" - Jesus. Accordingly, such became and an abbreviation. On the Old Believer icons, the name of the Savior is always written in the old way - Jesus, and in the abbreviation there is one "I".

Finally, we can not fail to mention another kind of icons, which exists only among the schismatics. These are cast tin and copper mortise old-believing icons and crosses, whose production in official Orthodoxy is prohibited.

Non-acceptance of new "graceless" icons

Among other aspects of church life, the reform of Patriarch Nikon touched upon the style of writing icons. Even in the centuries preceding it, Russian iconography felt a strong influence of Western European painting, which was further developed in the middle of the 17th century. According to the rules introduced with the adoption of the reform, the icons were established with a more realistic style, which replaced former conventionality and symbolism.

This caused an active protest from the leaders of the Old Believers, who called for ignoring these blasphemous, from their point of view, novodels. In this connection, the polemical writings of Archpriest Avvakum are known, sharply criticizing the unacceptable "vividness" in the new patterns of church painting and declaring such icons to be graceless.

Demand for ancient icons that spawned the fake industry

Such statements served as the reason that, beginning in the second half of the 17th century, the Old Believers began actively collecting old "pre-Sarasque" icons, among which Andrei Rublev's works were particularly appreciated. By the way, the reason for this was not their artistic merits, but the decision of the Church Council held a hundred years before, and decided to consider Rublev's work as a model for future painters.

Thus, the demand for ancient icons has increased dramatically, and since they have always been a rarity at all times, mass production of forgeries made "in the old days" was immediately established. Such Old Believer icons were called "subfurials" and were very widespread, to which followers of ancient piety tried to counteract.

Art experts and creators of new works

In order not to become a victim of deception of clever dealers, the Old Believers were forced to delve into all the subtleties of writing icons. Not surprisingly, it was from their midst that the first serious professional experts in the field of iconography came out. Particularly noticeable was their role at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when Russian society displayed a wide interest in the works of ancient painting, and accordingly, the production of all kinds of fakes increased.

Old Believers not only tried to get old icons, but eventually they began to produce their own, executed according to all the rules, which they themselves established. Since the middle of the XVIII century in the largest Old Believer centers there were own icon-painting workshops, in which, besides the paintings, copper cast icons were also created.