The word "canon", originating from the Greek language, is used not only in art history terminology, but also in religious rhetoric. Canon as a set of rules is a reflection of its era.
Instruction manual
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The vocabulary definition of the canon says that this is a set of fundamental provisions adopted in a particular area. In relation to art, it denotes the prevailing norms, stylistic techniques used to create images. One of the first examples in the history of civilization, when art was completely subordinate to the rules and laws, is Ancient Egypt. This culture created works (painting, sculpture, architecture), which were not intended for aesthetic pleasure. All the monuments were part of religious activity and served to ensure the sacred connection of earthly life with the heavenly circle. Deviation from the canons meant breaking the connection between the divine and the profane. Therefore, tools and techniques were improved, and the canon remained unchanged.
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Representatives of a younger culture - Greek, which, in turn, can be considered the cradle of European civilization, highly appreciated Egyptian art. So Plato and Aristotle considered the planar image of a man, characteristic of Egypt, correct, allowing you to see things close to reality, and the perspective - deceptive. The ancient Greek sculptor and art theorist Polycletus rethought the Egyptian canons and created works that became the aesthetic ideal for Europe for many centuries to come.
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The emergence of Christianity formed its meaning of the term "canon" as a set of worldview principles based on sacred texts. In a narrow sense, the canon is a decree of the Ecumenical Council, which recognized as sacred certain books, symbols, church structure, order of worship and a certain way of life. In religious tradition, the standards of fine art are subject to the general provisions of the church. Such an interpretation takes the concept of the canon far beyond its aesthetic understanding as the ideal of the beautiful: we are talking about the expression of holiness through a certain way of depicting. So until the Renaissance, icon painting deliberately avoided naturalism (using the reverse perspective and other techniques).
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The Renaissance, on the one hand, again raised the ideals of antiquity, and on the other, attached great importance to the individual experience of the artist. In this era, classicism began to take shape as an artistic style, which spawned academism as a kind of pedagogical principle. And today, a painter, sculptor, musician or architect begins with the reproduction of samples, gradually coming to their own techniques and forms.
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In domestic thought, a theoretical understanding of this concept began only in the 20th century. Philosopher A.F. Losev called the canon a "quantitative-structural model" of a work of a certain style, which, in turn, expresses a certain socio-historical reality. Semiotik Yu.M. Lotman argued that the canonical text (and the concept of text in semiology - the science of sign systems - is interpreted widely) is a structure that is not comparable to natural language, but, on the contrary, generating information. That is, the canon forms the style, the language of the artist.
