단 하나뿐인 얼굴

Only one face of God: The Art of Icon and meaning

현재 우리나라에는 소수의 동방교회가 들어와 있고 이콘에 대해서도 어느정도 알려졌지만 아직도 많은 사람들에게는 여전히 생소한 편이다. 그러나이콘은 작가의 창의성이 배제되어 예술성은 떨어질지라도 높은 영성 때문에가톨릭교회에서도 이콘에 관심을 갖게 되었고, 또한 그리고자 하는 사람들이점차 많아졌다. 그러나 이미 르네상스 대가들의 성화에 익숙해져온 서방세계의 그리스도 교인들에게 이콘이 주는 독특한 미학적 표현이 여전히 낯설 뿐이다. 이러한 현상은 서로마 중심의 정치와 문화 그리고 역사와 교육에 비해상대적으로 동로마의 역사와 문화에 대해 도외시 해 온 점과 러시아와 동유럽의 공산화에 의한 정치적인 영향도 크게 작용하였을 것이다. 지난 세기 말동유럽 공산권이 무너지면서 많은 이콘이 서방세계에 흘러 들어오게 되면서,자연스럽게 많은 그리스도 교인들에게도 이콘에 대한 관심이 점차 높아졌다.본래 이콘은 그리스도교회 미술이었지만, 동서방교회의 분리이후 이제는 동방정교회의 미술로 더 잘 알려져 있는 이콘에 대해 본 논문에서는 역사적배경과 신학적 의미와 그 표현방법에 관하여 간추려 소개하고자 한다.

It was from the beginning an important concern of Christian Art to adequately express the difficulty of the transcendent being. Partially there was the religious overlap in the dogmatic theology with Judaism on the one hand and on the other there was influence of Hellenistic culture. Being between these two cultures Christian Art wanted to find its own solution. Whatever method is used, it is certainly impossible to get the transcendental appropriately reflected. With the idea that the transcendent being is able to enter human world in human form, it seemed to be possible to portray the transcendental in physical form. Developed on the basis of salvation through Christ, Christian Art knew only one face of God, who had assumed human form. With this appearanceit was initially looking for an ideal respectively linguistic expression. Attempts of visible presentation began subsequently. One might even say that this deep desire of finding the proper expression for that face represented the beginning of Christian Art. Ultimately the icon was the result of Greek Christian scholars who were trying to connect to the basic esthetic thoughts that time, which was characterized by Greek philosophy. With respect to the human representation of God in icons, many conflicts had been existed for centuries since the beginning of Christian Church. Despite the discord and considering the esthetical demand of the respective time icons were further developed. An icon must show the accurate theological significance, must include the symbolism of colors and figures, e.g. the reversed perspective etc. and has to be followed it specific methodology to be called an icon and to give it the necessary importance. The icon had a significant influence on Christian Art, which developed since the Early Christian Church, particularly in Europe and isrecently again increased considered. Considering icons in artistic terms does not always provide satisfactory response. Although many artists were inspired by icons and thus new forms of expressions in Christian Art were set the stage for, they could not touch the early importance of icons. Nevertheless, the icon continues to face many challenges. It is mainly the opinion represented, that it is possible to re-create the icon from a today´s perspective of esthetical concept. Perhaps this is the challenge of each epoch. But this requires a lot of considerations first. The adequate combination of esthetic expression, the accurate explanation of the subject and the consideration of determined requirements should be given priority. From an artistic point of view icons are far from a realistic illustration. With regard to its esthetical demand, icons require a further exploration to realizean adequate development. For icons as Christian Art this would create the possibility to meet the requirements of any bygone and recent epoch.