Sacred Geometry and the Five-Pointed Star in Russian Iconography

The world and the celestial earth, meaning in its archetypal aspect (Sofia), indicate the mediating function of Mary between the two realms. This geometric approach in iconography is exemplified in John the Baptist, where the typical use of the 8-pointed star is evident. In this case, the star is oblique because it's formed from an octagon, symbol of baptism. The star thus formed identifies some fundamental points of the face, as well as the dimension of the halo, but especially the inclination of the blessing arm and the position of the hand. In Russian iconographic tradition, a place of particular prominence is occupied by the five-pointed star. This star, symbol of Truth, Light, and Man, was often used by holy iconographers to derive the structure and cardinal points for faces as well as for half-busts of their figures. This repeated and structural use of the five-pointed star can be considered in a certain sense the key characteristic element of the Russian iconographic movement of the 14th and 15th centuries, in contrast to the French theory of proportions of the 13th century. The passage from the short-lined type of the iconographic saint found in the art of Villard Honnecourt (13th century) to the long-lined type of Russian iconography of Novgorod coincides with the use of the Golden Number of Pythagoras or Golden Proportion whose value is 1.618, and with the construction of the five-pointed star or pentagram recognized as the dynamic sign of Nature and Man. The five-pointed star allows giving a cosmic dimension to the head of the saint in the Russian icon. The Russian tradition thus uses the five-pointed star differently from the French medieval tradition to derive the proportions of the face of figures. While in fact in the French tradition, exemplified by the face reported in Honnecourt's notebook, the 5-pointed star remains internal to the face giving a sense of closure, in the Russian tradition, the generative star extends beyond the face projecting towards the exterior and lifting the forehead and the figure itself. When speaking of Geometry in Icons, we speak of that essential structure that provides the artist with those guiding lines and proportions that will allow him to build the artistic work in a manner conforming to the geometric symbolism associated with the ideal reality to be represented. The geometric structural scheme of the work not only determines - at least indicatively - the guiding lines that regulate its arrangement and proportions, but allows for better understanding of the work itself, making explicit in a certain sense the inspiring idea of the author. Andrei Rublev's Trinity is universally recognized as an absolute masterpiece both from an artistic and theological point of view. It was commissioned by the blessed Nikon, abbot of the Trinity monastery after the death of Saint Sergius, to the two best iconographers of the time, Rublev and Cherny, with the purpose of commemorating the death of the saint's father. About one hundred and fifty years later, in 1551, the Council of the Hundred Chapters erected it as a model of iconography and of all representations of the trinity. The geometric analysis reveals the systematic use of the five-pointed star in the construction of Rublev's Trinity, with the fundamental structure composed of four five-pointed stars pointing upward. In coincidence with three of these stars is found an Angel while in correspondence with the fourth is found the Cup which originally contained the drawing of a Lamb. The three Angels represent the Three Persons of the Trinity: Michael corresponding to the Father, Raphael to the Son, and Gabriel to the Holy Spirit. However, according to tradition, a fourth angel must be added to these three, hidden, expressing the essential unity of the three persons, the Archangel Uriel. The Cup represented by Rublev at the center of the altar thus unites the Three Persons of the Trinity in their one Essence according to the mystery of the Holy Grail. This marvelous geometric-symbolic construction demonstrates how sacred geometry serves both aesthetic harmony through the golden proportion and theological meaning through symbolic representation of divine mysteries.