The Function of the Icon

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William C. Chittick explores "The Sufi Doctrine of Rumi"

Ernest Thompson Seton explains "The Gospel of the Redman"

The Fullness of God: Frithjof Schuon on Christianity

Light on the Ancient Worlds: A Brief Survey of the Book by Frithjof Schuon

Spiritual Poetry

Interview with Frithjof Schuon - on Art

The Sermon of All Creation: Christians on Nature

What is Sacred Art?

The Perennial Philosophy Series

Slideshows


What are the "Foundations of Christian Art?"

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How does the icon function?

"The doctrinal foundation of the icon determines not only its general orientation, its subject and its iconography, but also its formal language, its style. This style is the direct result of the function of the symbol: the picture must not seek to replace the object depicted, which surpasses it eminently; according to the words of Dionysius the Areopagite it must 'respect the distance that separates the intelligible from the sensible.'"

Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne, Greece, 13th century