Carving Byzantine Acanthus 5-2

Unfortunately, it is hard to find books in English about Byzantine art in depth. I was blessed to be born in Russian culture and as You know Russian Orthodox Church inherited Byzantine style long time ago. The way we know how it was done and what was the différance between Byzantine and other type of Acanthus, Russian Church Wood Carvers still work in this style even today. Many of those wood carvers simplified this form but the Big Idea or Gist is still there. Greek Orthodox Church also keeps the style but simplified it even more. I don’t think simplification is wrong, it is just form art “redeveloped” or adapted to time. . Art takes a different form in historical context.

I was reading a book couple weeks ago and one quote was : “There is no such thing as a history of unwritten ideas.”
Byzantine Acanthus is somewhat oxymoron. Almost no written materials could be found but it is still alive in wood carving of orthodox churches.

The Big Idea was passes trough apprenticeship – Hands to hands not by studying “books about wood carving”

Apprentices would learn the trade by watching Masters and imitating them as closely as possible. They learned through endless repetition and hands-on work, with very little verbal instruction (the word “apprentice” itself comes from the Latin prehendere, meaning to grasp with the hand).

The natural model for learning, largely based on the power of mirror neurons, came from watching and imitating others, then repeating the action over and over. Our brains are highly suited for this form of learning.