COLOR IN ICONOGRAPHY

Colors in iconography play a very important role to depict the subject. It is a symbolic language, which manifests the light that is inside objects and human faces rather than their coloring. The choice of color, even though it originates from iconographic rules, has a certain symbolism, but is not always consistent. For example, in Eastern iconography, Our Lady is almost always in red or brown, however the earliest icons (from the sixth century, preserved on Mount Sinai) show her in blue. Oftentimes, the colors were the result of local availability of naturally mined colors from the earth. The only possibility for blue (until recently, when we were able to synthesize colors chemically) was from lapis, a very expensive semi-precious stone. When artists could use it, they did. If they couldn't, they used what was available: browns and reds. Theologically, it was justifiable. In the West, Our Lady is almost always in blue to emphasize her title as Queen of Heaven. There is also a pragmatic root to this tradition: When medieval and renaissance patrons commissioned liturgical artwork, they were also responsible for supplying the pigments. Many patrons, as a votive offering, bought costly lapis to use for Our Lady's garments. In time this became the traditional, recognizable color for her in the West. Gold symbolizes the divine light. In fact, the ancient Greeks said of someone who excelled as an orator that he had a golden mouth. If gold symbolizes light, we can see the consequences of this in the way gold is used in iconography, be it in the background or applied to persons or objects. Blues are associated with heaven, mystery and the mystical life, and are used in the mandorla centers in icons of the Transfiguration and of Christ in Glory. Dark blue is a color most often used in the vestment of the Pantocrator, the robe of the Virgin and of the Apostles. Red is one of the most frequently used colors in icons. This is the color of heat, passion, love, beauty, life and life-giving energy, and for this very reason red became the symbol of the resurrection - the victory of life over death. But at the same time it is the color of blood and torments, and the color of Christ's sacrifice. He wears a tunic in red, to signify His human

blood shed for us all. It is also used in the clothing of martyrs, whose blood nurtures the Church. Sometimes in Eastern iconography, icons were painted with a red background as a symbol of celebration of eternal life. Orange-red, associated with fire, suggests fervor and spiritual purification. Purple or crimson is associated with royalty and the divine. For the Byzantines purple was the symbol of supreme power. Their emperors always wore purple, except during their assistance at liturgical ceremonies, for which they dressed in white. White is associated with the divine world, purity, innocence, and is sometimes used with what Orthodoxy calls "the uncreated light," the light that Jesus revealed in the Transfiguration to Peter, James and John. Green signifies the earth's vegetation, fertility in a general sense, youth, hope and freshness. It often is used in the clothing of martyrs, whose blood nurtures the Church. Ancient iconographers painted the earth green to denote where life began - such as in scenes of the Annunciation and the Nativity. Brown is linked with bare earth, dust, inert matter and all that is transient and perishable. The monastic habit, as a symbol of poverty and of humility, from the Latin word humus meaning earth or soil, recalls a slow death to the world, so that monk may become a fertile "soil" for the grace of God; hence the clothing of monks is painted on icons with shades of brown or black. Used in combination with the royal purple clothing of the Mother of God, this color reminds one of her human nature, which was subject to death. Black, like white, is the absence of color, yet in reality black embodies all the colors together. Symbolically, white represents the unity of light, while black is its denial. Suggestive of non-existence, chaos, anxiety and death, black absorbs light without reflecting it. But the black of night promises the profusion of dawn ("Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep," Gen 1:2). In the icon of the Nativity of Christ, the grotto is black. We see the same for the tomb of Lazarus, the grotto beneath the Cross, and Hades in the Paschal icon of the Descent to Hell.