Beginning a conversation about how the Old Believer icons differ from those that we are used to seeing in our Orthodox churches, let's go back three and a half centuries ago in order to more clearly imagine the background of what historical events this very rare our days a kind of iconography. What is the phenomenon of the Old Believers and what are the reasons for its occurrence?
The essence of the reform of Patriarch Nikon
Old Believers in our country arose in the middle of the 17th century, becoming the result of 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 numerous deviations from the original order of worship that came to Russia from Byzantium, it was prescribed to re-translate church books from the Greek language, and on the basis of them to make appropriate changes to the liturgical order.
In addition, the reform also affected external ceremonial forms, replacing, in particular, the usual two-finger, adopted when making the sign of the cross, with a three-finger, which has survived to this day. Changes were also made tocanons that provided for the order of writing icons.
People's protest ended in a split
This reform, rational in its essence, but carried out hastily and ill-considered, caused an extremely negative reaction among the people. A significant part of the population refused to accept innovations and submit to church authorities. The conflict was aggravated by the fact that the reform was carried out under the auspices of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and all its opponents were accused of disobedience to the sovereign, which gave the case a political overtone. They began to be called schismatics and subjected to persecution.
As a result, an independent religious movement was formed in Russia, which broke away from the official church and was called the Old Believers, since its followers continued to adhere to pre-reform canons and rules in everything. It has survived to this day, having been transformed into the Russian Edinoverie Church.
Which icons are called Old Believers?
Since the Old Believers believe that since the reform it was the official church that deviated from the true "Old Orthodox" faith, and they remained its only bearers, for the most part the icons of the Old Believer Church correspond to the traditions of Old Russian writing.
In many ways, the 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 as those of them that, in their writing, diverged from the canons established during the reform.
IconsSavior adopted by the Old Believers
The most characteristic in this regard is the icon called "Saved Good Silence". It depicts Jesus Christ in the form of an angel crowned with the eight-pointed crown of God the Father and dressed in a royal tunic. It got its name thanks to the corresponding inscriptions applied to it.
Such an icon is found exclusively among the Old Believers, since the canons of the official church forbid depicting Christ - the Creator of the universe - in the form of a creature, that is, a creature created by him, which is an angel. As is known from the Holy Scriptures, the Lord created the entire visible and invisible world, which included both the angelic rank and the spirits of darkness.
In addition, two more images, “Savior Wet Beard” and “Savior Fiery Eye”, are among those forbidden by the official church, but common among the Old Believers. On the first of them, 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 painted without a halo, which is completely contrary to accepted norms, as well as with an elongated head and a dark, barely distinguishable face.
Examples of Mother of God icons and images of saints
The Old Believer icons of the Mother of God also have their own characteristics. The most common among them is the “Fire-like Mother of God”. It is distinguished from the usual generally accepted versions (varieties) of the Mother of God icons by the predominance of fiery red and scarlet tones in the overall color scheme, which was the reason for itsunusual name. The Mother of God is represented on it alone, without the Child. Her face is always turned to the right side.
Icons of Old Believer saints are also sometimes quite original and controversial. Some of them are sometimes able to cause bewilderment in the casual viewer. These include, in particular, the icon of the martyr Christopher the Psegolovets. On it, the saint is depicted with a dog's head. Omitting the arguments for such an interpretation of the image, we only note that this icon, along with some other similar plots, was banned by a special decree of the Holy Synod in December 1722.
A special place is also occupied by Old Believer icons depicting the most famous figures of the religious schism in the past, revered as saints, but not recognized by the official church. This is, first of all, the leader of the Old Believer movement, Archpriest Avvakum, who was executed for his activities in 1682, the fanatical adherent of ancient piety, the noblewoman Theodosius Morozova, and the founder of the Vygovsky bespopovskaya community Andrei Denisov. Old Believer icons, photos of which are presented in the article, will help to visualize the characteristic features of this type of church painting.
General characteristics of Old Believer icons
In general, we can talk about a number of characteristic differences common to the bulk of the icons adopted by the Old Believers. These include a large number of inscriptions made in the margins and over the painting layer. Also, the icons made on the boards are characterized by dark, sometimes barelydistinguishable faces, whether it be an Old Believer icon of the Mother of God, the Savior or some saint.
But this is not the end of the matter. There is another important feature by which you can easily recognize the Old Believer icons. Their difference from the official ones is often expressed in the fact that the saints are depicted holding their hand in two-fingered addition.
In addition, the fundamental difference is in the spelling of the abbreviation of the name of Jesus Christ. The fact is that, among other requirements, the reform established the rule of writing two letters "I" in it - Jesus. Accordingly, such an abbreviation has become. On the Old Believer icons, the name of the Savior is always written in the old way - Jesus, and one "I" is put in the abbreviation.
Finally, it is impossible not to mention one more type of icons, which exists only among schismatics. These are cast tin and copper inset Old Believer icons and crosses, the production of which is prohibited in official Orthodoxy.
Rejection of new "graceless" icons
Among other aspects of church life, the reform of Patriarch Nikon also affected the style of writing icons. Even in the centuries preceding it, Russian iconography felt the 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, a more realistic style was established in the icons, replacing the earlier conventionality and symbolism.
This caused an active protest from the leadersOld Believers, who called for ignoring these blasphemous, from their point of view, remakes. In this regard, the polemical writings of Archpriest Avvakum are known, who sharply criticized the unacceptable "life-likeness" in new examples of church painting and declared such icons to be graceless.
Demand for ancient icons that spawned the forgery industry
Such statements were the reason that, starting from the second half of the 17th century, the Old Believers began to actively collect old "pre-schism" icons, among which the works of Andrei Rublev were especially valued. By the way, the reason for this was not at all their artistic merits, but the decision of the Church Council, which took place a hundred years earlier, and decided to consider Rublev's works as a model for future painters.
Thus, the demand for ancient icons has increased dramatically, and since they have always remained a rarity, mass production of fakes made "antique" was immediately launched. Such Old Believer icons were called "furry" and were very widespread, which the followers of ancient piety tried to counteract.
Art experts and creators of new works
In order not to become a victim of deception by clever businessmen, the Old Believers were forced to delve into all the subtleties of writing icons. It is not surprising that it was from their midst that the first serious professional experts in the field of iconography emerged. Their role was especially noticeable at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when Russian society showed a wide interest in the works of ancient painting, and, accordingly, increasedproduction of all kinds of fakes.
The Old Believers not only tried to acquire old icons, but over time they began to produce their own, made according to all the rules that they themselves had established. Since the middle of the 18th century, the largest Old Believer centers had their own icon-painting workshops, in which, in addition to paintings, cast copper icons were also created.
