Jonah – Resurrecting The Body and Saving The City
The icon of the Holy Prophet Jonah is one of the the most ancient images of Christianity. Like the story of this prophet, his image is a powerful symbol of death and resurrection. I want to look closely at the story of Jonah and its iconography because it brings together almost all the elements I…
Continue reading »Aidan Hart’s New Book on Icons in the Modern World
In the spirit of Aidan Hart’s last series for OAJ (Holy Icons in Today’s World: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), his most recent book, “BEAUTY MATTER SPIRIT: Icons in the Modern World”, focuses on the implications of the icon and its theology for our lives in the twenty-first century. 256 pages. Over 30 colour plates.…
Continue reading »On the Gift of Art… But, What Art?
This is post 1 of 5 in the series “On the Gift of Art… But, What Art” Fr. Silouan explores points of contact and departure between traditional visions of art and contemporary art as we know it today. On the Gift of Art… But, What Art? On the Gift of Art…Part II: The Traditional Doctrine…
Continue reading »UPDATE: Seven Successful Candidates to Receive Certificates in Byzantine Music
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article appeared last week, before the examinations had taken place. This entry serves to report on the outcome of the examinations. For the first time in history, an American academic institution has awarded a Certificate of Byzantine Music. Eight applicants were examined by a board of five renowned Byzantine cantors last weekend…
Continue reading »A Living Tradition of Icon Painting
Interview with iconographers Philip Davydov and Olga Shalamova by Irina Yazykova (2010) and Andrew Gould (2014) Philip Davydov and Olga Shalamova are based in Saint Petersburg and are well-known iconographers throughout Russia and abroad. They participate in round tables and conferences, teach iconography and monumental painting, and promote the revival of iconography. Irina Yazykova: What do you think is…
Continue reading »Concert—Deep Roots Are Not Reached by the Frost: The Enduring Russian Sacred Choral Tradition, 1830 to the Present
On May 31, at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Danbury, CT, the St. Tikhon of Zadonsk Chamber Choir will give a concert of Russian Orthodox liturgical music in the final installment of the church’s third annual “Music on the Mount” concert series. The St. Tikhon of Zadonsk Chamber Choir is an ensemble of Orthodox professional…
Continue reading »Aesthetic Nepsis, Enargeia and Theophany: Looking for the Christian Image
This article was written by Dr. Cornelia Tsakiridou, associate professor at LaSalle University and author of Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity. The content is based on the talk Dr. Tsakiridou gave at Princeton University on March 13th, 2014 which was sponsored by Princeton’s Orthodox Christian Fellowship and Florovsky Society. Introduction (1) Saint Porphyrios the Kausokalyvite used to…
Continue reading »Steatite Icons and Material Symbolism
One of the points many OAJ contributors have been trying to bring across is that the medium out of which sacred art is made and the artful human act of fabrication are important on a symbolic and theological level. This question of materiality and production have become crucial ones in our age of mechanical reproduction…
Continue reading »Review of Cappella Romana’s Passion Week Performance
(the Wall Street Journal also reviewed this performance:’Passion’ and Resurrection) During Capella Romana’s recent performance of Soviet composer Maximilian Steinberg’s lost work, something became evident to the singers and the audience: while Steinberg’s Passion week is a very complex and lovely piece of choral music, it is a profound confession of faith. Vladimir Morosan gave…
Continue reading »What is missing from Aronofsky’s Noah
In many of my past articles I have explored the symbolism of death and how it is related in the Bible and by our Tradition to the arts and technology, to hybridity and the foreigner, the serpent, to the cave, to Cain, to animality and to periphery in general. Aranofsky’s recent Noah movie deals intently with many…
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