The Monastery of St. Catherine
in Egypt's Sinai is a wonderful place to visit,
interesting in every respect, but it is not famous throughout
the world simply for its facilities nestled up against the
foot of Mount Sinai. The monastery has one of the largest
collections of ancient illuminated manuscripts in the world,
as well as one of the most important collections of icons.
Here, we will examine the icons, which number over 2,000,
large and small, some unique masterpieces while others are
simple works of art. They are spread throughout the complex,
with some in the Katholikon, the chapels, the icon gallery,
the sacristy and even in the monks' cells. They were produced
during various periods between the 6th and 19th century, with
every period adding new treasures to the monastery's vast
collection.
Encaustic Icons
The encaustic technique uses wax and vegetal pigments mixed
at high temperature and spread on a wooden surface, and the
icons produced with this technique are of considerable
historical and artistic value. This method required the artist
to create a preliminary drawing of the subject on wood, or
very rarely, marble panels and then apply the still warm
mixture to the surface using either a brush or a hot iron. The
artist would then work on the colors by rubbing the mixture
into the painted surface using a special instrument. The
mixture penetrates deeply into the pores of the material and
when it cooled the colors become indelible.
The earliest icons were produced using the encaustic
technique, which was used until the 7th century AD, when it
was replaced by the secco or tempera painting. The famous
portraits of the  dead found in great numbers in the Fayoum
were produced in this manner, and the Monastery of St.
Catherine has a number of important encaustic icons.
Icons of Monastic Eastern Art of the 7th-9th Century
The icons present within the monastery from this group come
from local workshops active in monasteries of the East,
particularly Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Cappadocia. What is
distinctive about these icons is that they come from a period
when the Arab conquest precluded most of the contact between
Eastern regions and the Christian Greek centers. Hence, they
are products of folk art, less refined in character, and they
make use of a primitive realism to give expression to the
local tradition of the Coptic and Syrian Churches.
Nevertheless, it should be remembered that these rare icons
have been one of the main sources that contributed in shaping
Christian art in the following centuries.
 Icons Dating from the 9th to the 12th Century
There were two characteristics that defined the development
of icons during this period. First, they illustrate the
continuation of pre-iconoclastic painting tradition into the
post iconoclastic period and second, they show a turn toward
the classical concept of art, reflected in the delicacy of
drawing and the beauty of form.
Many of these important icons came from the imperial
ateliers of Byzantium, including one with scenes from the
story of King Abgar, where we find the earliest representation
of the Holy Mandylion. Others are portraits of Christ, the Archangels,
Saints, hierarchs and hermits. Illuminated manuscripts were
produced in great numbers during this period, including
Gospel-books, synaxaries and other texts, and the very
significant art of miniature painting had a more general
influence on iconography.
Icons of the Comenian Age (1080-1200 AD)
During the Comenian Age, icon painting was continued in the
great tradition of the earlier Macedonian school, with works
of classicist tendency, provincial character or monastic
inspiration, depending on the place and environment from which
they originated. The Monastery of St. Catherine has in its
possession a large collection of icons from this period
representing all three trends. Characteristics of these icons
include a well balanced layout of compositions, the forceful
expression of figures, the harmony of color schemes and the
tendency toward  dematerialization combined with a refined
sense of nobility and grace.
Icons on Iconostasis Epistyles
Icons such as these, dating from the 11th to the 14th
Century, were painted as a frieze along the entire length of
the upper part, or epistyle of wood-carved icon screens. Those
in the monastery collection, for the most part, came from
various chapels within the monastery. The most important of
these has seven scenes depicting the life of St. Eustratios.
Typically, the subjects that adorn these screens are of the
Great Deesis, scenes from the Dodecaorton (cycle of the Twelve
Feasts), scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary and miracles
of the Saints. These paintings are masterly executed in fine
color, while the figures are portrayed with spiritual
intensity and lively movement. In general, the icons of this
group reveal a workmanship of high artistic standard with
marked traces of a great tradition in icon painting.
Menologia
 The painting of menologia has its roots in the miniature
illustration of manuscripts, and particularly those of the
11th and 12th centuries. Menologia icons depict the Saints
honored on each day of the ecclesiastical year, and they form
another large and significant category of icons in the
monastery's collection. They come in a variety of forms,
including twelve large icons composed of full-length portraits
of the Saints of each month, two large icons in diptych form,
comprising all the Saints of the ecclesiastical year and a
four-wing icon and twelve wing icon of Saints and Martyrs
portrayed in successive rows. The inspiration and subjects of
these icons are mainly derived from the illuminated menologia
of Symeon Metaphrastes (11th century) that have come from
Constantinople. Some of these menologia have double
inscriptions, both Greek and Iberian, which disclose a close
relation between the Monastery of St. Catherine and the Church
of Georgia.
 "Sinaitic" Icons
The Monastery of St. Catherine's collection of icons
include a large group that are specific to the monastery,
mostly dating from the 12th to the 15th century. They consist
of portraits of important individuals associated with the
Monastery. They usually represent monks, abbots, patriarchs
and Saints, but include depictions of the Prophet Moses, St.
Catherine, St. John Climacus and others. Most of these icons
were almost certainly painted in the Monastery itself, and
their varied style, technique and quality depend largely on
the artistic skill of the painter. They are important because
they represent an important source of information on the
Monastery's history and art, as well as the general activity
of notable people who lived in the monastery.
Icons of the 13th century and the Palaeologan Age
The Monastery collection contains a considerable number of
icons dating to the 13the Century, and an even larger number
number of icons continues the tradition into the 14th and 15th
centuries, known as the age of Palaeologi. This was a period
of new artistic trends that first  made their appearance in the
13th century, with a tendency to renovate elements of
plasticity and revert to normal proportions in the treatment
of masses. In fact, the 13th century prepared the way for the
art of the so-called Palaeologan Revival.
A variety of style is a characteristic of this period.
Notable icons from this period come from the hermitages of
Southern Italy to the Venetian ruled islands of the Aegean,
from the delicate technique of artists at Constantinople to
the decorative character of Cypriot painting. All of these
different styles wee represented and assimilated at the
Monastery of St. Catherine.
By the late Byzantine period (Palaeologan age), iconography
no longer adhered to the established traditional standards.
Those who painted icons followed new currents and trends
dominated by a more realistic treatment of figures and scenes.
Their works are characterized by freedom of expression and
variety of type and by novel subject matter and compositions
with many figures. These works would eventually give rise to
the art of the post-Byzantine period, particularly of the 16th
century, by enriching the iconographic cycles and remaining
open to the influences from the art of the West and the
Renaissance.
 Post-Byzantine Cretan Icons
The Monastery of St. Catherine, sometimes also known as the
Monastery of Sinai, is known to have maintained a close and
enduring relationship with Crete, mostly through the Church of
St. Catherine at Herakleion and later, in the years of the
Turkish occupation, through the small Sinaitic Church of St.
Matthew at Candia. Therefore, the existence of works by
celebrated painters of the "Cretan School" in the
monastery's icon collection is hardly surprising.
The Grand Mosaic of the Transfiguration
One work within the Monastery's main church (Katholikon),
decorating the sanctuary apse, is particularly notable. The
subject of the Transfiguration is very appropriate to this
holy site, which is associated with the two instances when God
was "seen" by the Prophet Moses and by the Prophet
Elijah, the latter of whom had felt God as a light breeze on
Mount Horeb, below the Peak of the Decaloque).
The Mosaic of the Transfiguration
Go
to the Gallery of Icons
See Also:
Resources:
| Title |
Author |
Date |
Publisher |
Reference Number |
|
Christianizing the Roman Empire A.D. 100-400 |
MacMullen, Ramsay |
1984 |
Yale University Press |
ISBN 0-300-03642-6 |
|
Monastery of St. Catherine, The |
Papaioannou, Dr. Evangelos |
Undated |
Unknown |
None Stated |
|
Sinai and the Red Sea |
Beecham, N. |
Undated |
Unknown |
None Stated |
|
St. Catherine's Monastery |
Paliouras, Athanasios |
1985 |
St. Catherine's Monastery at Sinai |
None Stated |
Archives
|
