Representations of God in Icons. Immanence and Transcendence in Christian Art

Human desire to be in a more
 natural relationship with God, his Creator,
 caused the former to find different means of
 communication. In addition to the liturgical
 expression, materialized in prayer, another
 way of interaction is represented by the icon.
 The icon and through the icon, Heaven and
 earth, God and the members of the triumphant
 Church and the ones of the militant Church
 meet and communicate. The iconographic
 representation of God, symbols, events and
 holy Persons, gave rise to much controversy
 in history, which triggered a major conflict
 in the life of the Church, culminating in the
 eighth century iconoclastic dispute. The
 Seventh Ecumenical Council solved this dispute
 and placed the icon in its natural spiritual
 position. In the present study we will analyze
 and contrast how people have understood the
 freedom of representing the image of God the
 Father in icons, an issue which caused disputes
 and reactions due to exaggerations in artistic
 expression and misunderstandings linked to
 the limits of such representation. This evolution
 is considered historically in the Christian
 world, East and West, which shows either an
 exaggerated tolerance of representation or an
 extreme conservatism leading to the prohibition
 of painting an anthropomorphic image of the
 Father. We will also study the recommendations
 of in the textbooks of Christian erminia
 and we will present examples of Romanian
 iconographic art