Depicting Orthodoxy in Rus

An outline of the history of mural and icon-painting in Novgorod demonstrates that the pictorial references in icons to church constructions, interiors, and their mural decorations had a long-standing tradition in Novgorod. Over time, these references became more and more explicit, so that they identified the Christian Church recognizably and exclusively with Byzantine Orthodoxy. The first half of the chapter analyses church decoration and the second icon-painting of Novgorod, thus seeking to explore the direct iconographic roots of the Wisdom icon. The chapter discusses the meaning of the prepared throne (Hetoimasia) in the Novgorod Sophia image, its light symbolism, and the development of anti-Latin ecclesiological iconographies in Novgorod.