Ukrainian Icons Across the Centuries

Where the Light Remains presents icon paintings from the collection of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, in Kyiv. It is the first time these rare and treasured works of art have been shown outside of Ukraine, the result of a unique partnership between the National Art Museum and both the National Gallery of Iceland and the National Museum of Iceland.

Icon paintings are sacred works of art illustrating images and concepts from the worldview of the Eastern Orthodox Christian church. Often painted on wood panels, icons depict holy figures and biblical events that seem to belong to a timeless spiritual world. It is precisely in imagining this higher, metaphysical realm that the icons seem imbued with an immaterial, divine light. Artists conveyed this light through gold and silver backgrounds; radiant halos; and bright, contrasting reflections on the folds of fabric and golden highlights on garments. 

The icon paintings in the exhibition originate from various regions of Ukraine and cover a broad historical period—from the late 12th century to the early 19th century. The art of icon painting became part of Ukrainian culture with the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium in 988. At the time, Kyiv, was the capital of the medieval Ukrainian state of Rus’. It was a major European city, and a leading political, religious, and artistic center. The 11th–13th centuries witnessed a flowering of ecclesiastical architecture with the building of large stone cathedrals and monasteries adorned with frescoes, precious mosaics, and icon paintings, some of which are on view here:  St. Sophia Cathedral (1037), the Assumption Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (1073–1089), St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral (1108–1113), and others. The artistic life of Kyiv and Rus’ rapidly flourished.

Neither the expansion of conquerors nor the repeated partitions of Ukrainian lands among other states could halt this vigorous development. Over time, Ukrainian art was enriched by Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance influences. Yet it was the emotional character of the later Baroque that proved closest to Ukrainian culture, finding expression in realistic forms, vivid decorative ornamentation, and an increasingly uplifting spiritual tone. 

While absorbing diverse influences, Ukrainian art did not become a mere imitator of the styles and cultures of other people; rather, it found its own distinctive artistic language and a clearly defined national visual character. Where Light Remains reflects the mystical light of the icon, for even in Ukraine’s darkest times, this light endures a symbol of hope and the triumph of life over death.

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