Byzantine Orthodox icon

From the Orthodox point of view of the traditional, icon figurative prayer; but the point of view of art history, the Orthodox icon is inherent Orthodox faith and a combination of ancient Greek art form. This feature from the historical development of Byzantine art can be clearly seen.
In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was divided into east and west, the two parts are independent countries. East Rome came to be known as Byzantium. In certain historical period, the Eastern and Western Roman Empire experienced a different fate. Once wealthy and densely populated city in western Rome because barbarian invasion and looting put impoverished and depressed, within the ancient cultural heritage destroyed. Eastern Rome in this period is to escape the barbarian attack, life is relatively stable. When the Western Roman impoverished when Byzantium is full of them, a national has thousands of cities. Ancient Greek art tradition has become the foundation of the Byzantine culture.
In the 4-5 centuries throughout the Mediterranean region, both eastern and western, Italy or Greece, Christian art is a unified whole. But in the early sixth century, they began to form a special, Byzantine Christian art language and image, on the one hand it is the basis of ancient Greek art, on the other hand, has joined the spiritual tendency consistent with Christian thought. Byzantine artists to create a number of specialized tools and methods to give the sensibility of Greek art in the form of Christian spiritual connotation. This forms a Christian aesthetic: no longer external formal beauty of ancient Greek art as the ideal goal, but trying to perfect the performance figures of the spirit of prayer and intuitive to concentrate on God.The purpose of art as the expression of the characters and phenomena inherent meaning, rather than its external aesthetic features.
In the religious ideas, and holy it is more reliable than having a natural reality, it is the real divine, eternal existence, natural phenomena belong to changing perishable or fallen creature in the world. The Incarnation theology linked to religious art task is to take the visible image to reflect this divine reality. As a researcher of Byzantine Culture, he said: "Byzantine art and Byzantine theology, is from heaven and the secular opposition objects, heavenly things worldly things than the principle of departure."
Byzantine icons of art has been extended to mid-15th century. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire was destroyed by the Turks, icon painting to give to maintain and develop the island of Crete in Greece and Mount Athos and other places.

Virgin Mary of Jerusalem of plastic frame