The Unusual Glass-Bead Icons of Angelika Artemenko

By Andrew Gould | January 24, 2013 |
Icon by Angelika Artemenko

I have just learned of a most unusual iconographer from Ukraine whose medium is primarily glass beads. Her name is Angelika Artemenko, 26 years old. Despite her unconventional technique, she works with great care and piety, emphasizing the blessing of her bishop in all she does. Ms. Artemenko begins by painting the hands and faces on canvas.…

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Marble Revetments

By Andrew Gould | January 8, 2013 |

Today I would like to call attention to marble revetments, meaning the decorative marble paneling that clads the lower walls of a Byzantine church. It is impossible to overstate the architectural importance of revetments. In the grander Byzantine churches, the marbles covered most of the interior surface, dominating the visual experience of the church far…

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Parekklesion of the Pammakaristos Church, Istanbul

By Andrew Gould | October 26, 2012 |

The Church of the Pammakaristos (“All Blest Mother of God”) is a complex of medieval Byzantine structures at the north-west tip of the walled city. It was the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate from 1456 to 1587. Today, the 11th-century main church serves as a mosque, but the 14th-century parrakklesion (side chapel) has been restored to its…

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Church of St. John, Istanbul

By Andrew Gould | October 1, 2012 |

I will be periodically posting short photo-essays illustrating historical Orthodox art and architecture that may be of interest to our readers. I have decided to start with some photos of the least-known Byzantine church in Istanbul, the tiny church of St. John the Baptist, now the Hirami Ahmet Pasha Mosque. It is the smallest Byzantine church…

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