Talking Icons: The Dissemination of Devotional Paintings in Russia and the Balkans, 16th – 19th century

Talking Icons:
The Dissemination of Devotional Paintings in Russia and the Balkans, 16th – 19th century,
Byzantine & Christian Museum, Athens,
January 15, 2014 until September 30, 2014

Fifteenth-century Europe witnessed the development of a distinct type of religious painting which combined novel iconography with extensive texts. A form of illustrated sermon, these “talking icons” would figure in the religious disputes centred on the reform of Church and society that raged across most of 16th- and 17th-century Europe as all sides sought to establish broad social alliances. This form of religious painting would remain common throughout Christendom until the 19th century.

The exhibition included three such paintings from the collections of the Byzantine and Christian Museum: The Wisdom of God, The Trial of Christ, and The Living Cross.

The exhibition was part of the “Exhibit of the Month” series introduced in Greece by the Byzantine and Christian Museum. A common practice in major European museums, the “Exhibit of the Month” seeks to present to the public museum objects that are not particularly well known.
Text source: Byzantine & Christian Museum, Athens

Exhibition organized by the Byzantine & Christian Museum and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies-FORTH, within the framework of the research project “Russian Icons in Greece: 15th – early 20th century.”
Co-curated by Olga Gratziou (IMS-FORTH), the RICONTRANS Project PI, Yuliana Boycheva, et al.