Ichnography. The art of making maps or plans.
Iconic (sc. statues), Gr. and R. (εἰκονικὰ, i. e.) Portrait-statues; especially statues raised in honour of athletes who had been victorious in the contests.
Iconoclasts, Chr. Image-breakers. The name originated in the 8th or 9th century in the Eastern Empire, from which finally Theophilus banished all the painters and statuaries in 832. It has been since generally applied to those who, at various outbreaks of fanaticism, have destroyed ecclesiastical objects of art, and is especially applicable to the disciples of Savonarola in 1497, and to the Puritans of Scotland and England during the civil wars.
Iconography (i. e. image-description). The science that deals with statues and images, bas-reliefs, busts, medals, &c. Thus we have an Egyptian, Greek, Roman, mediæval iconography, &c. The best work on this science is “Christian Iconography; or the History of Christian Art in the Middle Ages,” by M. Didron. The second volume contains a manual on the subject by a painter of the 12th century.
Iconostasis, Chr. The screen of the chancel in ancient churches, so called because it was there that images (εἰκόνες) were displayed for the adoration of the faithful.
Ideal and Real. “Any work of art which represents, not a material object, but the mental conception of a material object, is in the primary sense of the word ideal; that is to say, it represents an idea, not a thing. Any work of art which represents or realizes a material object is, in the primary sense of the term, un-ideal.” (Modern Painters, vol. ii. chap. 13.) In a practical sense an ideal picture or statue (e. g. the Medici Venus) is not the portrait of an individual model, but the putting together of selected parts from several models. Raphael said, “To paint a beautiful woman I must see several, and I have also recourse to a certain ideal in my mind;” and Guido said, “The beautiful and pure idea must be in the mind, and then it is no matter what the model is.”
Ides, Idus, R. One of the monthly divisions in the Roman year; it fell on the 15th in months of thirty-one days, excepting January, August, and December; in months with only twenty-nine or thirty days, the ides fell on the 13th. The kalends are the first of every month; the nones are the 7th of March, May, July, and October, and the 5th of all the other months; and the ides always fall eight days later than the nones; and the days are reckoned backwards: thus the 13th of January is the ides of January, and the 14th of January the 19th day ante diem (or before) the February kalends. The morrow of the ides was looked upon as an unlucky day (nefas).
Illapa, Peruv. One of the divisions of the temple of the Sun (Inti) among the ancient Peruvians, so called because it was dedicated to the thunder (Illapa). (See Inti.)
Illumination. This art originated simply in the application of minium (or red lead) as a colour or ink, to decorate a portion of a piece of writing, the general text of which was in black ink. The term was retained long after the original red lead was superseded by the more brilliant cinnabar, or vermilion. Ornaments of all kinds were gradually added, and the term includes the practice of every kind of ornamental or ornamented writing. From the 3rd century Greek and Roman specimens exist of golden lettering upon purple or rose-coloured vellum, and the art prevailed wherever monasteries were founded. Anglo-Saxon and Irish MSS. of the 6th and 7th centuries exhibit a marvellous perfection, characterized by wonderfully minute interlacements of the patterns. Nearly all the best specimens of illumination were destroyed on the dissolution of monasteries. (Consult “The Art of Illuminating,” by W. R. Timms.)
Imagines a vestir, It. Wooden images set up in Italian churches, with the heads and extremities finished, and the bodies covered with real drapery.