Re-Creation of the Icon

A classically trained iconographer, Lynette Hull, draws fascinating parallels between contemporary and ancient icons in a tech-obsessed age.

 

Eastern Orthodox Christmas Story

An Animated Nativity Greeting:

 

Russian Businessman Donates 70 Icons Worth around $1m to the Church

The property developer Sergei Shmakov has spent over a year tracking down the works, which were removed from Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and during the first world war.

The Art Newspaper:

A Russian businessman has donated more than 70 icons with an estimated value of Ru 30m (around $1m) to the Russian Orthodox Church. Property mogul Sergei Shmakov has spent over a year tracking down the icons—which were taken out of Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution and during the first world war—at auctions, antique stores and flea markets abroad. The icons include a rare mid-18th-century icon, St John the Theologian in Silence, which depicts the apostle with his fingers over his lips and an angel peering over his shoulder as he contemplates the gospel he is composing.

At a ceremony on 4 October, the Russian culture minister Alexander Avdeyev praised Shmakov for his donation. “Your help is a matter of great patriotism,” said Avdeyev. “You could have spent your money on something else, on developing your business, for example, but you are returning to Russia not only sacred, but cultural treasures, works of art.”

The culture ministry said that Avdeyev had accompanied Shmakov on some of his travels abroad in search of the icons…

More here.

 

Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Lady of Sorrows refers to the sorrows in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary which are a popular devotion and are frequently depicted in art.

It is a common devotion for Catholics to say daily one Our Father and seven Hail Mary for each.

1. The Prophecy of Simeon. (Luke 2:34-35) or the Circumcision of Christ.

2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13).

3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:43-45).

4. Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary (Luke 23:26).

5. Jesus Dies on the Cross. (John 19:25).

6. Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms. (Matthew 27:57-59).

7. The Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb. (John 19:40-42).

An Icon of the Beheading of John the Baptist

Via An Reader’s Guide to Orthodox Icons:

The 29th of August commemorates the Beheading of John the Baptist and Forerunner of Christ. Above is an icon of The Head of St John the Forerunner (Глава Cв Иоанна Предтечи), a type of icon which flourished within the Russian Empire during the 19th century.

A few other examples of this icon can be found here, here, here, and here (all images hosted on the Cirota forum).

Our Lady of Sorrows – Softener of Evil Hearts

Writes Stuart in a timely, welcome and rather refreshing post:

… I’m sure most of us will immediately sense that the above Icon is our Lady of Sorrows, and be very familiar with the seven sorrows that pierced the heart of Our Lady. Perhaps like me, you have spend time reflecting and meditating on her Sorrows, whilst praying through the powerful Scripture passages. For those not quite as familiar her Sorrows begin with the Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35);  The flight into Egypt (Matt 2:13);  The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (Luke 3:43-45); The meeting with her Son on the Way to Calvary (Luke 22: 26); Our Lord’s Death on the Cross (John 19:25); 6) Receiving His precious body in her arms. (Matt 27:57-59); And our Lord’s body being placed in the Tomb (John 19:40-42)

Yet perhaps we are not quite as familiar with this specific beautiful Icon known by our Orthodox brothers and sisters as the Softener of Evil Hearts. Perhaps we are even less familiar with the heart swelling depth of reverence and beautiful liturgy found in the Akathist to the Mother of God.  Below is the beginning of the Akathist, called The Apolytikion.

“Soften our evil hearts, O Theotokos, and quench the attacks of those who hate us and loose all straitness of our soul.

For looking on thy holy icon, we are filled with compunction by thy suffering and loving-kindness for us, and we kiss thy wounds;  we are filled with horror for the darts with which we wound thee.

Let us not, O Mother of Compassion,  according to the cruelty of our hearts, perish from the cruelty of heart of those near us, for thou art in truth the Softener of Evil Hearts.”

The beauty of the Eastern Tradition of Icons lay in the harmony, colour and composition and their very apparent flatness, leads us on into the stillness. Unlike Western art we cannot immediately seize their meaning, so we must allow the meaning to come to us. One needs disengage the mind, and begin to see with the heart.   Holy Icons exert a calming influence, allowing us to stand (or sit) peacefully before them, so that we may be drawn into the stillness and then into contemplation.

It is here that we are freed for a few moments from the worries and concerns of everyday life, and from the materialistic world that surrounds and impacts us all, as we are drawn deeper and higher towards the spiritual world.  Perhaps this is why Icons are known as doors to Paradise. And with the Softener of hearts Icon, it is our Mother who leads us deeper in prayer and into contemplation of the divine mysteries of our Lord.

The whole post is here.

Where Heaven Falls Prey to Thieves

A short documentary…

… about the extensive art theft that has taken place in North Cyprus since the 1974 Turkish invasion. The theft has taken place with tacit or active approval from the Turkish army.

The plunder not only served as a source of income for criminals in North Cyprus and shady antiquity dealers, it was also an act to eradicate the memory of Cyprus as a Christian country for almost two millenia.

What has happened in the Turkish occupied zone constitutes pillaging of world cultural heritage and is a war crime according to several international conventions.

Give it a look. Very sad, all the destruction.

HT

Icons or Idols?

I found this post by Joseph Black informative and helpful in explaining the spiritual value of Icons to those of evangelical persuasions:

… I am teaching ecclesiology as part of my systematic theology class.  Part of the requirement is for my students to visit various kinds of churches, including Orthodox churches.  Since none of my students has ever been to an Orthodox service, I volunteered to take them.  Eight of us went, and evidently most of them had the same sort of experience I had twelve years earlier in London.  The first question they asked was, ‘Why do Orthodox Christians worship icons?’

Every single Orthodox person I have heard answer a question like that has said the same thing.  ‘We are not worshiping the saint or the picture of the saint.  Worship belongs only to God the Holy Trinity.  Rather, we are venerating or honoring or respecting the saint.  They have gone before us, some were martyred, some were known for great Christ-likeness, others for the great things they did or said.  So we honor their memory and we ask that they pray for us.’

 

Of course, now other Protestant alarm bells are sounding – ‘You talk to them?  You pray to them?  Aren’t they dead?’

 

And the answer comes, ‘They are not dead to God and are in fact in his presence participating in the unending worship of the angels and other bodiless powers.  And just as you would ask a friend or a pastor to pray for you, so we ask a saint to pray for us.’

  

‘But why do you kiss icons?  Isn’t that a form of worship?  Isn’t that what one does to idols?’

  

‘In your culture, when you greet someone you will often shake his or her hand.  In the cultures where we come from, when we greet each other, we kiss, once, twice or three times on the cheeks.  When we kiss icons, it is not a kind of worship, it is a kind of greeting.  When we venerate an icon, we of course are not venerating or honoring a piece of wood with paint on it, but the icon itself is to us a window into heaven, into the reality of the realm beyond our world where the saints and angels are with God the Holy Trinity.  Our honor/respect/veneration goes through the window of what is depicted on wood and paint to the reality.’

There are several interesting things I have learned about Orthodox icons over the years.  The first is that God the Father or the Holy Trinity is never depicted.  This is because they spiritual and immaterial.  But there is an exception to this rule.  The Bible describes an event where three men meet and share a meal with Abraham.  All three are described as ‘the LORD’.  The Orthodox Church has always understood this as a pre-incarnation manifestation of the Holy Trinity.  Icons of this event are thus understood to be icons of the Holy Trinity.

Rublev’s The Holy Trinity

Another is that, for the Orthodox, the Virgin Mary is never depicted alone; she is always with Jesus.  The only exception is similar to the one mentioned above – the biblical account of the annunciation and conception of the incarnate Word of God.

 The Annunciation

But theologically speaking, the most compelling and powerful icons are those of Christ, whether of the Pantocrator (the Ruler of all) seen in every Orthodox dome, or the crucifixion icon, or the resurrection icon, or the icon of Christ the teacher, or of washing the disciples feet.  These icons, as do all of them, have an obvious didactic function, helping one call to mind aspects of Christ’s character or ministry so as to inform our own.  But for the Orthodox, the icon of Christ carries a special significance.  While the Orthodox are careful to follow the Old Testament not to make an image of the invisible God, they do make images (the Greek word for image is ‘eikon’) of God the Son…

Christ the Pantocrator from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul/Constantinople

Read on here.

Coptic Style Icons

By Dr Stephan Rene. And fine Icon writing he does indeed:

Further to a recent posting about a Coptic style Stella Maris icon, here are two more icons by Dr Stephane Rene in his ‘neo-Coptic’ style. St Joseph of the House of David and Mary Mother of the City are in St Joseph’s Catholic church, in Bunhill Row in the City of London. I remember this Church because it is just around the corner from the offices of the Catholic Herald, where I once worked. They come courtesy of a NLM reader who brought them to my notice. So if you’re reading thank you Martin Pendergast and Sr Jean for supplying the images.

The name, St Joseph of the House of David, is a reference to the fact that St Joseph, although poor, was of the Royal House of David. There are four narrative scenes from the gospel in each corner. The one of the Holy Family in a boat is depicting them on the Nile – representing the period of exile. Notice also the beautiful patterned border the Dr Rene has designed.

In this huge icon (3 metres x 2 metres). Mary is shown coming from an enclosed garden (a reference to the sybolism in the Song of Songs). The peacock is a traditional symbol of eternal life. The stream flowing from a cave represents the womb from which Christ emerged to live among us and give us the living water.

Above and below are in situ photographs (kindly taken especially for this by Mr Pendergast) to give a feel for the scale of the icons.

Fantastic!

The Stella Maris icon can be seen here.

Coptic tradition icons are always special.

On Icons

Via the BBC:

The icon has been created from natural materials using an ancient traditional process A renowned religious icon painter has created a painting of Jesus Christ for a church in Monmouthshire. Ian Knowles worked in the Priory Church of St Mary in Usk last week painting the icon. The church also hosted an exhibition on iconography. An anonymous benefactor paid for the work, which has caused a “great sense of excitement” to the congregation, according to the church’s vicar. Jordan-based Mr Knowles also teaches iconography in Bethlehem. His time at the church, which dates from Norman times, was the first occasion he had worked in Wales. Icons are part of liturgical or religious art and have been used as part of Christian worship for centuries. Mr Knowles explains that creating an icon is a spiritual experience and one that uses traditional processes and materials. The process of painting an icon is very much a spiritual one and Mr Knowles prayed before and during the creation of the icon. Ian Knowles has painted the icon of Christ in the church “When you paint an icon you’re trying to be in the presence of Christ and in communion with the saints,” he said. “You’re painting from the heart.” The use of colour in icon painting is very significant. Gold which is used heavily in icon art symbolises the divine milieu. The icon of Jesus created for the church features Christ wearing a blue cloak symbolising his holiness and a reddish purple (caput mortum) inner garment which symbolises Jesus’ humanity. ‘Living prayer’ Mr Knowles only uses natural ground pigments to created a harmonious palate. The colours are mixed together using an egg yolk tempera or binding agent. Rabbit skin glue is also used. The ancient, traditional process extends to the panel which is created from lime wood and comprises of a raised border battened at the back to prevent warping. The panel created for the Priory Church of St Mary’s measures 45 cm wide by 60 cms high and will be placed on a stand and brought out for services.  The church is planning a formal service to bless the icon later this year The vicar of St Mary’s Priory, the Rev Ian Gray said there’s been a great sense of excitement in the congregation and in the community about the creation of the icon. “It was great to have Ian in the church painting the icon. People could come into the church and see Ian and see the icon being painted and learn more about the process.” “It’s been an educational process for the whole congregation. There’s a real sense that this icon belongs to the church.” “It’s a living prayer in paint and wood. It represents God and is much more than just a piece of art.” Mr Gray explained that the church are looking into ways of putting the icon on permanent and secure display in St Mary’s. There are also plans for the icon to be formally blessed by the Bishop of Monmouth later this year.