Sobornost is the main necessary condition of the orthodox art revival ⁶⁹⁹

Современные специалисты отмечают новый виток в развитии рус¬ского православного искусства. Меж тем главное условие его возрождения – соборность. Вопрос состоит в том, чтобы понять соборность как базовую ценность русской культуры, возможность реального возрождения и функционирования православного искусства в нынешней бытийной ситуации продолжающегося кризиса духа.

Ключевые слова: соборность, православие, искусство, иконопись, преобразование

Рубрика: Философия

Тип: научная статья

The guidelines of the revival of the icon­panting in Russia is closely con­nected to the name of the Archimandrite Zinon, who was a monk of the the Pskov Dormition Monastery of the Caves. Icon­panting skills and divinity are combined in Zinon’s creative work. For him the icon is not only for copying of the sample, but it can’t exist without living faith experience as it is liturgical. Icon is the fruit of the clerical sobornal consciousness and not the work of per­sonal creation. During his creative hunting Fr Zinon pushes forward to the Or­thodox icon­panting source penetrating into the crerical tradition deeply.

Being sceptical about the existence of the national school of icon­panting in nowadays Russia, the master considers that the reason for its absence is the lack of spirituality. Fr Zinon records with a feeling of regret that many of con­temporary icon­painters lack spiritual competence. That’s why they accept archaistic manner of painting accompanied with worn spots, dark images, dull background, etc. Fr Zinon names this technique «fancy aestheticism», produced by unability of modern icon­painters to say their own word because of their poor spiritual education. Icon is the fruit of the clerical sobornal consciousness and doesn’t exist without living faith experience. Scanty understanding of the icon sobornost deprives it of divinity content, so that it becomes meaningless. Aes­thetics and visual characteristics prevail over authentic content. National icon­painting school can survive if only there is a recovery of the Byzantian tradition, that is the source of the Russian icon­painting school. «Nowadays each icon­painter has to cover the same way like Russian icon­painters had covered after Russia was converted to Christianity. Trying to penetrate as deeper as possible the magic of icon­painting one has to examine the best images and only in this case after being joined to it, you are able to add something yourself» [1, p. 34].

1. Archimandrite Zinon (Theodor). Icon­painter’s talks. – Moscow. 2003 – p. 34
2. Art historian M. Gusev distinguishes several schools and trends in modern icon­painting: 1) School, concept of which can be defined as «icon­feast»; basic features characteristic for this school are high skills and aesthetic liberty. Icons of the artists closed to Ks. Pokrovskaya can be referred to this school. (Ks. Pokrovskaya lives in the USA now. She put into practice synthesis of modern Russian tradition of icon­painting in the arranged icon­painting studio. American School of the Orthodox icon makes its first steps in this studio. 2) School which concept is regarded as «icon­desert». It is characteristic for rigidity of the style, renunciation of emotional and material dominant for the sake of moral dominant which produces an image of inner reality contemplation. Icon­painter Al. Lavdanskij is an adherent of this concept. 3) School of «The concept of embodiment». Icon­painters working within this concept try to fix levels of embodi­ment, flesh transformation. Al. Sokolov and B. Bychevskij are followers of this concept // Church digest. Issue 1. – Moscow / 1991.– Pp. 16­18.
3. V. Martynov. The History of Liturgical Singing. Moscow – 1994 –. p. 200.