Customer Reviews

The Icon: Window on the Kingdom

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This book manages to deal with the theology, the history, the technique and the underlying philosophy of icon painting in a deceptively short number of pages. The author is a linguist who has closely studied his subject over many years. He wears his scholarship lightly. Perhaps out of respect for his subject he avoids any hint of egotism, prefering to quote from a wide range of authors ranging from the earliest days of Christianity down to the present day. His ostensibly modest comments, aparently centered on the icon, widen out into a critique of modern life and how it may be refocused through the contemplation of the spiritual perspective on which the icon is alone based.

It would be hard to imagen a better selection of illustrations. Those range from the earliest examples from Greece through the golden age of Russian art through to Ouspensky and Kroug, including those artists who have managed to remain anonymous as the icon demands since they claim no credit for the inspiration which drives them. On the net itself some very good examples of real icons can be sourced through "Theologic WorldLinks" and others. Some iconographers can be contacted directly on the net but you have to wait before they get around to you. Vladimir Baranov of Siberia is wonderful (baranovv@academ.org) as is Vojislav Lukovic of Beograd (voj@eunet.eu). Both have websites, so you can see how their work can grace your home.

Michel Quenot's THE ICON: Window on the Kingdom, translated into English by an anonymous Carthusian monk, is a concise introduction to the iconography of the Orthodox Church. Since its topic is images, it contains many figures, most of which come in gorgeous full colour.

In spite of its short length of less than 200 pages, the book manages to cover all aspects of icons, such as the history and dogmatic foundations of the art, the place of the icon in the Church, and the methods by which they are made. The nature of the paintings themselves, that is, the geometric structure, colours, perspective, and use of light are exhaustively described. Quenot provides an analysis of four specific icons to point out the general themes presented. Throughout, Quenot (himself a member of the Orthodox Church) is keen to show the spiritual value of icons. They aren't a mere subject of dry academic study or art history, but true "windows to heaven" where the Christian contemplates the Kingdom of God. The book also gives a comparison of the development of religious imagery in the Roman Catholic Church alongside the constancy of the Byzantine icon, showing the uniqueness of Orthodoxy's iconography. This is a nice touch that is missing from many introductions.

While the book does contain useful information. I found the writing somewhat repetetive and unfocused. The translation is also not entirely satisfactory. Some tighter proofreading and editing would have serve both the French original and this SVS Press translation well. Nonetheless, if you are interested in icons, this is a work worth perusing.