"The story of Noah is the story of God uncreating the world in order to create it anew."
MS M.638, fol. 2v, The calling of Noah to the Noahic Covenant
In terms of style and symbolism the Iconographic and the Gothic are closely related. The Gothic is sometimes referred to as a more naturalized version of the Iconographic. As contemporary artists rediscover the Gothic form, it is entirely appropriate to inform their studies by looking at the Iconographic form and how it solves various artistic considerations.
Iconography classes frequently stress that there are no shadows in icons. As I mentioned in a previous article it is difficult to assign general rules because we can almost always find examples where that rule is broken. Certainly there are shadows in icons.
In painting, form can be defined in a number of ways. In the Iconographic and the Gothic, form is usually defined by line or by shadow. Greek and Russian icons generally differ here as the Greek/Byzantine tends to be more line based while the Russian employs more shadows around the face to define the form.
Some may argue that icons have shadow that defines form but they do not have “cast” shadow. An example of a cast shadow may be the shadow that an arm casts upon the body. This is perhaps a little more accurate but again contrary examples abound. Most notably icons will often have shadows cast by the brow ridge over the upper part of the eye and sometimes a shadow on the neck that is cast by the chin.
The “reverse-engineered” explanation for this idea of no shadows is that the subject is evenly lit with the light of Mt Tabor. The saint depicted glows with the light of holiness from within so that there are no shadows.
The Gothic form actually does a better job of this. Typically the Gothic form relies on line to define the form and simple flat coloring to enhance the drawing. The artist of the Maciejowski Bible sticks pretty closely to this convention although you can see shadows in the folds of the garments.
But we are in reality re-discovering both of these forms and so we are free to develop new conventions based on what we see in ancient examples. Various schools of iconography have developed their own “rules” that more or less agree with each other. The Iconographic has the advantage over the Gothic as the renewal of the Iconographic form has been going on for about a hundred years now. As we continue our studies of the Gothic form, artists have the opportunity to establish new conventions to guide other artists as they take up this form of sacred liturgical art.
Personally I feel that some amount of shadows and highlights, particularly in the depiction of garments, adds to the overall beauty of a painting. And creating beauty is the primary goal of the artist.
This page of the Maciejowski Bible shows the Story of Noah and the flood. The artist has chosen to divide each of the pages of his Bible into four quadrants. But these are not hard and fast boundaries. In the upper left quadrant we see Noah in two different states within the same panel. In the lower half of the composition, Noah breaks the barrier, a column in this case, separating the two quadrants. This seems to suggest that the two lower panels are connected, that is, one is a continuation of the other.
The Building of the Ark
The story of Noah is the story of God uncreating the world in order to create it anew. In the upper left quadrant we see God emerging from the highest Heaven to instruct Noah to build the Ark. In the Gothic form there is often a distinction between Heaven, where the saints and angels dwell, and the highest Heaven reserved to God alone and often defined by a mandorla shape circled by clouds. Here God emerges from the clouds into Noah's world to tell him about the coming deluge. In the same space we see Noah constructing the ark. God's solution to the evil which has overtaken the world is destroy the evil and start again.
The Search for Dry Land
In the upper right quadrant, the rains have stopped and Noah releases a dove from the right side of the ark which returns with an olive branch on the left side. The raven, released earlier, feeds on a corpse in the floodwaters. This panel borrows quite a bit from the Iconographic tradition. The raven is seen variously feeding on the carcass of an animal, the copse of a man, or some indeterminate matter. The point is not what the raven feeds on, the point is that the raven did not return. Church fathers saw in this behavior the selfishness of the raven which looks only towards its own interests.
The waters of the flood seem to pile up in the middle, supporting the ark. This is an example of a medieval artistic convention. Objects are depicted as complete. The waters of the flood have a beginning a middle, and an ending. The few animals depicted represent all the animals in the ark. The Gothic form relies on a minimalist approach, depicted only what is required to convey an idea. Obviously the artist could not depict every animal on the ark so the nine that are depicted represent the whole.
The Landing
In the lower left quadrant the ark has come to rest on a mountain and the animals depart from one side while Noah and his family depart from the other side. In creating the world the first time, God draws back the water so that the dry land may appear. In the story of Noah God releases the waters to once again cover the earth. As the flood recedes, dry land appears once more. The ark comes to rest on a mountain recalling that Eden was thought to have been located on a mountaintop.
The animals descend down one ramp and Noah and his family descend on another. The world is recreated but now there is a difference. In the first creation man was a vegetarian. “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food” (Gen 1:29). But with this new creation things have changed. Noah is a new Adam but now instead of the animals coming to him, they fear him. “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything” (Gen 9:3). The harmony that existed between man and animal has been replaced with fear and dread (Gen. 9:1-2).
A New Creation
In the lower right Noah and his family offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Christ God, through whom all things are created, descends from Heaven, accompanied by His angels to establish a new covenant with man. God has set in motion His plan for the salvation of man, it is a plan of salvation by re-creation.
For more information on the Maciejowski Bible visit the Morgan Museum website at https://www.themorgan.org/collection/Crusader-Bible
Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com
Lawrence draws on ancient Christian tradition to create new contemporary visions of sacred art. For more information on original art, prints and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org
Purchase fine art prints of Deacon Lawrence’s work here.
“The Visitation” © Lawrence Klimecki
