Christ Pantocrator, painting from the Monastery of St. Apollo in Bawit, now at the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo
Coptic neo-iconography, a trend set up by Isaac Fanous (1919 – 2007) is undoubtedly beautiful. It constitutes an important strand of Coptic artistic expression that is full of symbolism. But, somehow, it came to be seen as the representative of Coptic art. Further, it has been restrained by special rules that it has almost become rigid and repetitive, though it still produces gems. Quite often it seems flat, bland and the figures look emotionless, with little individuality and detached from reality because of its concentration on symbolism more than anything else. This is intentional and not due to any defects in the skilful modern Coptic iconographers. The purpose of Coptic neo-iconography is to preach not to create realistic images of persons and events or to pay attention to historical details. And it has succeeded in that: it has secured an important role in the mission of the Church.
But art has to retain a basic freedom of expression and not to be restricted by many rules or otherwise it will become a straitjacket that stifles artistic creativity and expression. Somehow, Coptic modern iconography has fallen short in that compared to old iconography which is characterised by more freedom, versatility, realism and individualism. Visit our modern churches and you will find most of them look similar in the building and the art in it: there is no much character to them that distinguish one from the other. The iconostases in all look the same with the same work of art. Our Coptic churches have become characterless, meaning that they lack in structure and art any individuality. Not like that in the past: compare what we have now with our old churches, their structure and art. For example, look at the work of art at the Monastery of St. Apollo in Bawit, Middle Egypt, which dates to before the Arab invasion of Egypt, and which has been removed now to the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo. Compare also with the wall paintings of a later period at the Red Monastery in Sohag area in Upper Egypt or the Monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul at the Red Sea. There, you will see more variety and individualism in the artists; you will see richer spectrum of subject and form; you will see figures that look like the Copts – the deity and saints Egyptianised; and you will realise that these figures are real, historical and with their emotions not masked. I publish above one such painting from the Monastery of St. Apollo in Bawit, Christ the Pantocrator: there is no missing its Copticity, its beauty and its religious value.
I guess my purpose of writing this article is to give us freedom in the field of art, and not to restrict ourselves to one strand of the whole, that’s not to regard modern Coptic iconography, despite its undoubted beauty and importance, as the Coptic art par-excellence, or the only strand and permissible art. We must be inspired by our old art too, and our churches must be, inter alia, museums of varied kinds of art that are characteristically Coptic and that link us to our past and spiritual world.
