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