The wonder of icons and icon-painting
Other than the West European images of saints, the icons are considered copies of the archetype of the saints and thus they are believed to act as intermediary between the earthly and the spiritual world. The icon is an inseparable part of the cult and features its own energy and strength to which the believers could appeal in their prayers.
Against this background the creation of an icon was committed to strict rules. The master-painters were forbidden to unveil their own talents but had to follow strictly the traditional rules. All the features and details in an icon were determinate: not only the displayed themes (portraits of saints, scenes and characters) but also the design of the background, the combination of the colours, the way of showing gestures. To include correctly all details in the image sometimes many painters worked on one icon.
Nevertheless in the course of history various painting styles and techniques developed in the different orthodox countries and regions so that the icons revealed more and more about the artists and respectively the country where the icon was created. Even the oldest Bulgarian icon is an evidence of this showing typical Bulgarian characteristics. It dates back to the 9th/10th century and was found in the area of Preslav. This image of St. Theodorus was made of many painted ceramic pads. Even though the simple contouring and the strong stylization are signs of the Byzantine archetypes, the creation of a ceramic icon is a specific characteristic. However Bulgarian icons were later on painted on wooden plates as well, whereat mostly thin plates of linden or cypress tree were used. The plates were at first pasted up with grounding coat consisting of glue, alabaster and cloth. The actual painting was carried out with natural dye, linseed oil and resin dissolved in eggs.
Still the selection of characters and scenes for Bulgarian icons showed specific characteristics. All-over the country one can find the icons of The Holy Virgin but also a plenty of icons displaying images of local saints - e.g. St. Ivan of Rila or St. Cyrill and St. Methodius. Furthermore the icons preserved from the period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom (12th-14th century) clearly show far more lively features than the Byzantine archetypes. Also a specific characteristic for the Bulgarian icon-painting is the preference of militant saints (like St. George and St. Demetius) and the dramatic-ethical subjects (like The Wheel of Life and The Last Judgement).
Most of the preserved Bulgarian icons date back to the 18th-19th century - the time when the technique of icon-painting reached its peak during the National Revival period. In the towns of Tryavna, Samokov and Bansko schools for icon-painting were established and this towns became centres of the Bulgarian icon-painting art. Master-painters of these schools traveled troughout the country and decorated the churches and monasteries with frescoes and icons. In the Rila Monastery one can find examples of the painting works of all 3 schools.