Chapter II · The Workshop Rule
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On the making of the panel

Four disciplines the iconographer keeps

The board is prepared before a single line is drawn
Seasoned linden, eight coats of gesso, burnished smooth — the ground earns the image, not the other way round.
Gold is laid as light, never as decoration
The leaf ground is the uncreated radiance itself; halos are incised into it so the metal, not paint, does the shining.
Space opens toward the one who looks
Reverse perspective widens at the back: the saint regards the viewer, the panel does not pretend to be a window.
Flesh is built from dark to light, in order
Over the brown sankir base, ochre highlights are floated last — the face emerges out of shadow the way day breaks.
This is the Russian Orthodox Icon (Rublev school) design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Russian Orthodox Icon (Rublev school) guide → designbycurio.com/learn/russian-orthodox-icon-rublev