On the principles of depicting internal space in Russian iconography

Abstract

The article discusses four key principles of demonstrating the inner space in Russian iconography. The first three techniques are different variations of framing the characters with an architectural or geometric ‘border’. These are: placing the figures against the background of buildings that in such case themselves play the role of a frame that bringing the characters inside the depicted house; a ‘retractable’ architectural element– a colonnade or wall that frames the characters from behind and brings them into the interior space; finally, the nutrovye palaty (inner chambers) – a frame that ‘cuts’ the building with high arches and allows the painter to show both the interior of the building and fragments of its exterior. Similar principles of ‘cutting’ the composition with frames, ‘bordering’ a number of characters with a geometric line, were used to demonstrate scenes related to another time or space (visions, events of the past or future, etc.). The fourth technique was the partial overlap of the depicted figure with an architectural element (a person looking out from behind a column, from a window, from a doorway). It is based on the impression of an outside observer and refers no longer to the conventional, but to realistic techniques in painting. As shown in the article, all four variants coexisted in Russian iconography and could easily complement each other in a composition. The paper demonstrates the functioning of each of those techniques based on the corpus of Russian icons and miniatures.