In his history of iconoclasm ( The Forbidden Image ), Alain Besancon describes some of the artistic features of Russian iconography: “Nature is stylized in such a way that trees, rocks, and houses defy gravity. The buildings are not represented within a unified space: each floats in its own perspective. The colors have a symbolic value. Light casts no shadows. The perspective is generally reverse: the line of force extends from the icon toward the beholder’s eye. Through the icon, the truths of faith radiate toward the person contemplating it. The vanishing point thus moves toward him.”