After the slideshow, there was a discussion on the subject. What follows is a resume of the opinions offered in response to the slideshow.
Many suggested that a dark blue is acceptable for several reasons. Blue is the favored color in certain icons because it is mystical, noble, practical and cultural; it permits also to contrast the background with the figures.
The color called “mystical blue” in several Greek books on iconography–-amongst others the book Ekphrasis by Photios Kontoglou—is a blue that tends towards a dark green. Kontoglou talks about this dark blue that he calls “mystical” by citing the same Dionysus the Aeropagite cited by Father Steven when he spoke of green. Kontoglou adds that this dark color represents the heavenly mystery, in an apophatic way: the glory of Heaven cannot be represented in all its radiance by the colors of an icon. Therefore it is permitted to use a “mystical” blue in the background.
Gold, as a noble material, is perfectly appropriate to abstractly represent the royal glory of the Divine. Similarly, a rich deep blue, from an apophatic point of view, is appropriate to represent glory, like a brilliant saturated red preferred by certain Russian iconographic schools. This red–easier to understand as an expression of strong luminosity—is derived from cinnabar, a precious material; it is comparable to blue and gold because blue was a product of a precious material, in this case lapis-lazuli, that is a blue of a precious stone found in what we now call Afghanistan. Lapis-lazuli and cinnabar, from which red is produced by pulverisation, are more or less equivalent to gold because they are noble, precious, and very expensive materials.
Gold, beyond its capacity to reflect light, can adequately symbolise light. But gold had a reputation of being a “dark” color during the Renaissance when artists, such as Bernini wrote manuals for artists.
We can mention a practical consideration in favor of a dark background color: especially for frescoes where carbon from incense, lamps and candles accumulates. This suit will eventually darken the walls with a thick layer. To prevent this, when planning to paint frescoes, it is preferable to paint the walls a dark blue in order to minimise the inevitable darkening and to avoid the wrong relation of color that may unbalance the visual dynamics of the composition.
Culturally, the Greeks preferred blue as Russians preferred red. Krasny–red in Russian–can signify brilliant or beautiful. The desired ambiguity, brought about by the different meanings of the word red, can be seen in expressions such as Red Square, the luminous corner and the pascha kranaya. In certain Russian churches during the paschal season, the faithful use red candles. Nonetheless, it is only a cultural consideration because red is not more phosphorescent than the blue.