A brief history of the iconscreen:
The iconscreen (also called iconostases or templon)
is a form of partition between a church’s sanctuary
area and the nave. It distinguishes the altar (representing
heaven) from the nave (representing paradise), but also
unites them, showing that through the Incarnation the
Father has “united all things in Christ”.
It
seems that all churches had some such partition from
the early centuries of Christianity, both in the East
and in the West. These began as a low wall, perhaps
just two or three feet high (60 to 90 cm).
In
the early Byzantine period until about the ninth century
the partition generally took the form of columns carrying
a carved epistyle, with carved panels in between the
columns except for where the central and side entrances
were. These screens could be in a straight line or rectagular,
stepped out into the nave.
Screens
in the West could sometimes be like this, but more commonly
remained as low chancel walls, without columns, as can
still be seen in some of the older churches in Rome.
Soon
after the fall of iconoclasm in 843, in Byzantium icons
began to be added along the top of the epistyle, and
were also often painted on the church pillars either
end of the screen.
In
the late Byzantine church (1261-1453) we see icons of
the Saviour, the Virgin and saints being placed in the
spaces between the columns of the screen itself. This
is really the birth of the iconscreen as we know it,
as distinct from the purely architectural sanctuary-nave
partition.
In
Russia, iconscreens – which tended to be of wood
- reached great heights from around the 1400’s
onwards, having up to five tiers of icons.
There
are infinite variations in design and material. In the
Coptic Church, for example, the screen traditionally
is of wooden lattice work. In medieval times western
European churches developed the rood screen (“rood”
referring to the cross which surmounted these screens),
although this could be situated not only in front of
the altar, but also further west to enclose the choir
or chancel.
From
the twentieth century there has been a trend in the
Orthodox Church towards the lower screen design, but
one can still find all types and heights still being
made.
