Abstract

Icon and Devotion offers the first extensive presentation in English of the making and meaning of Russian icons. The craft of icon-making is set into the context of forms of worship that emerged in the Russian Orthodox Church in the mid-seventeenth century. Oleg Tarasov shows how icons have held a special place in Russian consciousness because they represented idealized images of Holy Russia. He also looks closely at how and why icons were made. Wonder-working saints and the leaders of such religious schisms as the Old Believers appear in these pages, which are illustrated with miniature paintings, lithographs and engravings never before published in the English-speaking world.

By tracing the artistic vocabulary, techniques and working methods of icon painters, Tarasov shows how icons have been integral to the history of Russian art, influenced by folk and mainstream currents alike. As well as articulating the specifically Russian piety they invoke, he analyzes the significance of icons in the cultural life of modern Russia in the context of popular prints and poster design.
“Richly illustrated, making available much popular iconographic material generally unfamiliar to Western readers. . . . A fascinating contribution to the cultural history of Russia." — Times Literary Supplement
“Invaluable. . . . This remarkable book should be required reading for anyone with a desire to understand imperial Russian culture at a more than superficial level.” — Slavonica
Oleg Tarasov is Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Cultural History of the Institute of Slavic Studies (Russian Academy of Sciences), Moscow. He has written extensively on icons, painting and cultural history.