In Christiantity, an icon is a flat picture of Christ, Virgin Mary, or other saints. Most icons are painted in egg tempura on wood, but some are created with mosaic tiles, ivory, or other materials. In Orthodox Christianity, icons are sacred works of art that provide inspiration and connect the worshipper with the spiritual world. The scenes depicted in icons usually relate to liturgical celebrations rather than directly to historical events.
Icon painting in Bulgaria started officially with the adoption of Christianity in 865 under Prince Boris (Mihail). Bulgaria, having adopted Christianity from the Byzantine church, was the first Slavic country to have mastered this significant mediaeval art and taken part in spreading it.
The purpose and the ideal of Byzantine icon painting was the expression of the category of holiness, which was not made to appeal to the senses by being physically beautiful. In Christian Orthodox art the beautiful is not determined by the natural form of the objects, but by its sublime content, that is, by its power to serve the ideals of the faith.
In the Bulgarian churches, the nave is typically separated from the sanctuary by an iconostasis - a wall of icons. Many religious homes in Bulgaria, for example, have icons hanging on the wall.
Icons are often illuminated with a candle. Besides the practical purpose of making them visible in an otherwise dark church in the days before electricity, this symbolically indicates that the saint(s) depicted are illuminated by the Christ, the Light of the World.
Icon painting flourished during the National Revival Period in Bulgaria (18-19th century). The three most famous icon painting schools were the Tryavna school, the Samokov School and the Bansko School.
Bulgarian icons
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