From Image to the Salvation of Mankind: Discovering Differences in Theology and Culture in a Comparison of Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Sacred Art

Scholars frequently point out divergences in Christian iconography as it has developed in the East (Orthodoxy) and West (Catholicism). Some, like Michel Quenot, use progressive examples to demonstrate the differences in a specific representation over time. Others follow Leonid Ouspensky's model and engage in lengthy discussions on the nature of the differences in theology as they work themselves out in iconography in general, without reference to time or location. The goal of this essay is to fuse these two methodologies and show particular visual examples that illuminate underlying differences in theological culture. These divergences will be examined as they progress during the period which is considered the Renaissance or Golden Age of sacred art, the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries.