Preservation of the iconographic canon among Ukrainian diaspora

Iconography of the Ukrainian diaspora is an important component of Ukrainian (Western Ukrainian) canonical sacred art. Genetically, the iconography of the Ukrainian diaspora is based on the principles of Byzantine iconography, which included the color canon, the compositional canon and the canon of proportions, which performed important functions in Byzantine art. Ukrainian artists of the diaspora, adhering to the Byzantine iconographic canon, believed that it brings to the art information of utilitarian, historical and narrative plan. Scientific intelligence is devoted to these issues. The purpose of the section is to analyze the preservation of the iconographic canon in the sacred art of artists of the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. It is necessary to consider the Byzantine iconographic rules, which serve as an artistic scheme for the creation of Christological, Mariological and festive themes in the iconography presented in the temples of ethnic minorities. Using the principles of Byzantine aesthetics, the diaspora artists of Ukrainian origin (Petro Kholodny Jr, Sviatoslav Hordynsky, Juvenal Mokrytsky and Khrystyna Dokhvat) managed to preserve the ancient Eastern Christian tradition of cult painting. The art of the above-mentioned artists is based on strict artistic rules recognized by the official Church after the Trullian Council (691-692), the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) and the «Triumph of Orthodoxy», associated with decisions to introduce the dogma of icon worship in Constantinople Council (843). Preservation of the iconographic canon in the Ukrainian diaspora is a manifestation of the ancient Christian artistic spirit, which determined the types of major saints. The principles of the iconographic canon used in the painting of the Ukrainian diaspora also substantiated the location of the main gospel scenes in certain places on the walls of Christian religious buildings.