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1. Introduction 1.1. Concept and historical backgroundReligious iconography in the current sense is the study of the meanings of religious images and, as distinct from profane iconography, refers generally to engagement with the content of works of art on religious themes. It also denotes the method for studying the content of the religious images found in (mostly Christian) early modern Europe (“Christian iconography”; but see also Islamic art and architecture).Christian-themed art underwent profound structural changes in the early modern period. For the Greek Orthodox Church, the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked a decisive watershed (see below, 4.; see also Ottoman Empire). The virtual obliteration of Byzantine religious iconography brought the other Orthodox churches into closer contact with western religious iconography. Even in Russia, the leading center of icon painting in the 15th and 16th centuries, western engravings were being used as reference points in the 17th century. Such interchange made it easier for painters like Dominikos Theotokopoulos (called El Greco, “The Greek”) to move from east to west. It also provided powerful inspiration for the many efforts made in Russia to preserve independent traditions in religious art, observable from the 16th century to the era of classical modernism (Kasimir Malevich, Alexander Rodche…