Μεταμορφώσεις μιας θαυματουργής εικόνας : Σημειώσεις στις όψιμες παραλλαγές της Παναγίας του Κύκκου
Part of : Δελτίον της Χριστιανικής Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας ; Vol.35, 1994, pages 317-330
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317-330
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Transformations of a Miraculous Icon : Observations on Some Late Variants of the Kykkos Virgin
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The icon of the Kykkos Virgin constitutes a very typical example of a miraculous icon. For centuries it has been venerated at the same location, the monastery of Kykkos in Cyprus. All possible manner of honours have been bestowed upon it and the history of its adoration is well documented. Numerous copies made throughout its history still exist. From the 18th century, printed copies also appear in the form of engraved single sheets printed by the monastery, or as frontispieces to the many editions of the "Description" of the monastery. An important chapter of this book is devoted to the icon and its legend. Intruding on these printed icons, however, are elements foreign to icon painting, but none the less inalienable components of the new medium of engraving. Engravings rapidly come to the fore as exclusive models for new icons of the Kykkotissa and so elements foreign to icon painting but typical of prints begin to find their way into newer icons. Thus due to the intervention of engraving, a new way of depicting the holy icon emerges: apart from the divine portrait, we also find iconographie statements supporting the icon's holy nature and its miraculous powers. This manner of depiction, common in engravings and effective for their particular function, when transferred to panel icons introduces a new pictorial "language" which reverses age-old traditions. This process is also encountered in depictions not only of the Kykkotissa but also of other miraculous icons. Consequently, the implications of religious engravings for ecclesiastical painting in the Orthodox world are of great importance during the 18th century, and should not be seen simply as an interne diary through which formal influences were disseminated. The Kykkotissa, as a richly documented example, clearly reveals not only the mechanisms involved in copying but also the process by which the break with tradition took place.
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