Byzantine Ikons
These pictures of holy people and events are fascinating to me, possibly because there is so much emotional intensity in them. They are ideal for teaching human faces because they are so obviously simplified and are easy to copy. Nobody has to be scared.
During a time when many people were illiterate, ikons were a way to show the lives of the saints to the people. True, one of the ten commandments says not to, but the need for communication apparently outweighs that restriction! I went to a conference once and was presented with a gilded ikon by a Syrian prelate, which reminded me of how important these images are to people to this day.
The Byzantines were especially interested in St. George and the Dragon. As one of the fourteen Holy Helpers, he is the patron saint of England, Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia. I think this has to do with the metaphorical meaning of the triumph of Man over Wilderness but I could be wrong.
Below is one of tens of thousands of ikons depicting St George and the Dragon, and one of thousands showing George on a prancing horse, facing right, with a spear aimed at a twisted dragon, with a fat belly, directly under the horse. I chose this particular one because it's from Greece, and because its style is primitive yet powerful. Children could easily imagine being able to draw like that. The style is tense and terse. Everything in the painting is focused on the poor cute lil' dragon at the bottom who is about to be impaled. George and his horse have stern expressions of purpose, while the dragon is twisted in frustrated submission. The colors are primary, the lines are simple curves and angles just like Mona Brooks tells us about. However, unlike the primitive Celtic and Egyptian art, this one uses a kind of shading. Also, the smaller figure at the right might illustrate a kind of perspective, although I suspect he's smaller simply because he's less important than Saint George.
During a time when many people were illiterate, ikons were a way to show the lives of the saints to the people. True, one of the ten commandments says not to, but the need for communication apparently outweighs that restriction! I went to a conference once and was presented with a gilded ikon by a Syrian prelate, which reminded me of how important these images are to people to this day.
The Byzantines were especially interested in St. George and the Dragon. As one of the fourteen Holy Helpers, he is the patron saint of England, Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia. I think this has to do with the metaphorical meaning of the triumph of Man over Wilderness but I could be wrong.
Below is one of tens of thousands of ikons depicting St George and the Dragon, and one of thousands showing George on a prancing horse, facing right, with a spear aimed at a twisted dragon, with a fat belly, directly under the horse. I chose this particular one because it's from Greece, and because its style is primitive yet powerful. Children could easily imagine being able to draw like that. The style is tense and terse. Everything in the painting is focused on the poor cute lil' dragon at the bottom who is about to be impaled. George and his horse have stern expressions of purpose, while the dragon is twisted in frustrated submission. The colors are primary, the lines are simple curves and angles just like Mona Brooks tells us about. However, unlike the primitive Celtic and Egyptian art, this one uses a kind of shading. Also, the smaller figure at the right might illustrate a kind of perspective, although I suspect he's smaller simply because he's less important than Saint George.
Modern Interpretation of George and the Dragon
When I was in Greece, I saw many George-and-the-Dragon ikons and was a trifle irritated by the assumption that dragons need to be eliminated. It's all part of the patriarchal need to dominate nature, in my opinion. So I riffed off of the dragon portraits I saw, making them as cutesy and appealing as possible. I put the usual twisted dragon at the bottom, but added a mommy dragon and two baby dragons as well as various bits of artistic debris. (As you can see from my finger, this is not the best of images. I'll upload a better one in a few days.)
Most of my students love dragons too. I think they would enjoy changing the ending of the George and the Dragon archetype.
Most of my students love dragons too. I think they would enjoy changing the ending of the George and the Dragon archetype.
St George and the Dragon Ikon Lesson
Lesson Title: St. George and the Dragon
Grade: K - 9 self-contained classroom
Key Vocabulary: Ikons/icons, Byzantine, iconographer, meditation, fasting, saint, halo
Visuals/Resources: Margaret Hodges' "St George and the Dragon," web images.
Connections to Prior Knowledge: All the kids love dragons. It will be difficult for them to process the idea of killing one. We will discuss the metaphor of dragons/nature/power and why people might want to destroy that part of themselves or of their culture.
Content Objectives: 1. Recognize features of icons, 2. be able to reproduce some icons from exemplars, and 3. create an icon.
Meaningful Activities: 1. Mini-lecture on Byzantine icons. Read-aloud from Hodges. 2. 15-minute stations: examples of icons developed for copying, including dragons, horses, and saints. 3. 30-minute masterwork session: make an icon in your journal using at least some gold paint.
Supplies: Teacher-made exemplars, gold paint, tempera.
Review/Assessment: Art journal
Language Objective: Use appropriate vocabulary when sharing journal.
Grade: K - 9 self-contained classroom
Key Vocabulary: Ikons/icons, Byzantine, iconographer, meditation, fasting, saint, halo
Visuals/Resources: Margaret Hodges' "St George and the Dragon," web images.
Connections to Prior Knowledge: All the kids love dragons. It will be difficult for them to process the idea of killing one. We will discuss the metaphor of dragons/nature/power and why people might want to destroy that part of themselves or of their culture.
Content Objectives: 1. Recognize features of icons, 2. be able to reproduce some icons from exemplars, and 3. create an icon.
Meaningful Activities: 1. Mini-lecture on Byzantine icons. Read-aloud from Hodges. 2. 15-minute stations: examples of icons developed for copying, including dragons, horses, and saints. 3. 30-minute masterwork session: make an icon in your journal using at least some gold paint.
Supplies: Teacher-made exemplars, gold paint, tempera.
Review/Assessment: Art journal
Language Objective: Use appropriate vocabulary when sharing journal.