Iconostasis - Evolution

Evolution

Archaeological evidence from the St. John of Stoudios monastery in Constantinople suggests that the Iconostasis evolved from the early templon. A basilica dedicated to John the Baptist was built in 463 AD. In it the chancel barrier surrounded the altar in a π shape, with one large door facing the nave and two smaller doors on the other sides. Twelve piers held chancel slabs of about 1.6 meters in length. The height of the slabs is not known. The chancel barrier was not merely a low parapet (a short wall); remains of colonnettes have been found, suggesting that the barrier carried an architrave on top of the columns.

In early churches, including the "Great Church" Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the altar, at least in large churches, was under a ciborium ("ciborion": κιβωριου in Greek), usually a structure with four columns and a domed canopy. This had curtains on rods on all four sides, which were closed for sections of the liturgy, as is still performed in the Coptic and Armenian churches. a comparison with the biblical Veil of the Temple was intended. The small domed structures, usually with red curtains, that are often shown near the writing saint in early Evangelist portraits, especially in the East, represent a ciborium, as do the structures surrounding many manuscript portraits of medieval rulers. As the iconostasis grew, the ciborium declined, although some late examples, by now invisible to the congregation, were produced.

The templon gradually replaced all other forms of chancel barriers in Byzantine churches in the 6th, 7th, and 8th centuries except in Cappadocia. Sacred tradition ascribes the invention of the solid iconostasis to Saint Basil the Great.

As late as the 10th century, a simple wooden chancel barrier separated the apse from the nave in the rock-cut churches in Derinkuyu, though by the late 11th century, the templon had become standard. This may have been because of the veneration and imitation of the Great Church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, though the columnar form of chancel barrier does predate Hagia Sophia.

In recent years, especially in the diaspora, there has been a liturgical movement favouring a more open style of Iconostasis. These Iconostases may be only one or two tiers, with a wide opening for the royal doors.

The rood screens or pulpitums that most Roman Catholic large churches and cathedrals in many parts of Europe had acquired by late medieval times occupied a similar position between chancel and nave but had a different function. The choir was usually east of the screen. Many survive, often most completely in Scandinavia, and more were built in the Gothic Revival, particularly in Anglican churches in England. In examples in wood painted panels typically only went up to about waist height, with a section with wooden tracery above allowing a view through, and then a large carved beam supporting a rood cross crucifix, often life-size, above. Larger churches had stone screens, which might impede virtually all view by the congregation.