THE ART OF ICON IN THE CONSTANTINIAN ERA – PATRISTIC FOUNDATION OF THE ICON

Abstract

The freedom of expression of the Christian faith, acquired by the Church following the edict of Mediolanum, from the year 313, favored the flourishing of church life in all its aspects, including that of sacred art, therefore also of iconography. The one who gave the impetus to this process was, without a doubt, the Holy Emperor Constantine the Great himself. For their part, the Holy Fathers of the Church encouraged the representation in icons of the martyrdom of the holy martyrs and provided, at the same time, the arguments that contributed to the foundation of the presence and role of the icon in the life of Christians and in that of the Church. Therefore, it is not surprising that, starting from this period, a constant development of Christian sacred art followed in all the provinces of the empire, both through the multiplication of iconographic themes, inspired either by the universe of the imperial court, or by the martyrdom of the holy martyrs, or even by the tradition pagan, as well as by using increasingly elaborate techniques. The present study aims to follow the evolution of the older iconographic themes, to identify and shed light on the new iconographic themes, their sources and also their concordance with the teaching of faith synthesized and systematized by the Church during the ecumenical councils from Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), whose teaching is transmitted through these iconographic themes.