Russian icons

Common card · No. 471635

Russian icons represent a form of religious art that developed in Eastern Orthodox Christianity after Kievan Rus' adopted the faith from the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire in AD 988. Initially following Byzantine artistic standards, these icons were integral to religious practices and cultural traditions in Russia. Over time, Russian iconography evolved, incorporating local styles and elements that expanded its visual and symbolic vocabulary. The personal, innovative and creative traditions of Western European religious art were largely lacking in Russia before the 17th century, when Russian icon painting became strongly influenced by religious paintings and engravings from both Protestant and Catholic Europe. In the mid-17th-century changes in liturgy and practice instituted by Patriarch Nikon resulted in a split in the Russian Orthodox Church. The traditionalists, the persecuted "Old Ritualists" or "Old Believers", continued the traditional stylization of icons, while the State Church...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Andrei Rublev, Public domain