The Greek painter is the slave of the theologian. His work is the model for his successors, just as it is a copy of the works of his predecessors. The painter is bound by tradition as the animal is by instinct. He executes a figure as the swallow builds its nest, the bee its honeycomb. He is responsible for the execution alone, while invention and idea are the affair of his forefathers, the theologians, the Church.
– Adolphe Didron, imagining that he is being critical of the iconographic tradition, following his 1839 visit to Mt. Athos
Featured image: Monastery icon studio. source
