The Dog-Headed Icon of St-Christopher (pt.2): Encountering Saint-Christopher
This is post 2 of 2 in the series “The Dog Headed Icon of St-Christopher” Jonathan Pageau traces the pattern of meaning in Dog-headed representations of St-Christopher and how they relate to our experience of the world. Understanding The Dog-Headed Icon of St-Christopher The Dog-Headed Icon of St-Christopher (pt.2): Encountering Saint-Christopher In my last article…
Continue reading »Catholic Liturgical Furnishings From Ouspensky Disciple
Leonid Ouspensky, from his apartment/studio in Paris taught many young artists and created some of the finest iconography and iconographers of the 20th century. Recently, one of his pupils, Joris (George) Van Ael, came to my attention. Van Ael’s style is strongly reminiscent of others of the Ouspensky school like Fr. Patrick Doolan and Matushka…
Continue reading »Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated — part V, in which bricks and mortar concerns are considered
This is post 5 of 6 in the series “Notes from The Psalterion” Richard Barrett gives us practical advice for the discipline of liturgical music in a local parish context. Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated – Part I, First Principles Notes from the psalterion, updated and annotated – Part II, Getting Started Notes…
Continue reading »Interview With Russian Enamelist Evgeny Baranov
(A few months ago I posted some magnificent enamel icons by Russian artist Evgeny Baranov. So impressed was I at his skill that I asked him if he would accept to do an interview for us. What came out of this interview is not only his personal story as an artist, which is fascinating, but also…
Continue reading »New Doors for the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Madrid, Spain
In February of this year Aidan Hart and his team of craftsmen completed a large pair of doors for the newly completed Russian Orthodox Church of St Mary Magdalene in Madrid. The outside of the doors, facing the entrance lobby, sport sixteen hand carved panels, and the inside sixteen festal icons in gold leaf on…
Continue reading »Seat of Wisdom
A few months ago, Aidan Hart wrote a wonderful article on the possibility of statuary acting as icon. He did this in the context of having sculpted a model for a stone version of the Seat of Wisdom. Just as he was posting his article, I was also receiving a commission for a wooden carving…
Continue reading »Carved Wedding Crowns
I recently had the chance to make some wooden crowns for a seminarian planning his wedding. I had occasionally seen wooden crowns in recent Orthodox weddings and so I knew it was not completely an innovation. In discussion with the patron we decided on a tiara form, which would include a miniature stone icon and…
Continue reading »A Byzantine Church in Wood for South Carolina
For the past year, I have been working to design a substantial new church building for the OCA parish of St. John of the Ladder in Greenville, South Carolina. The parish has acquired an attractive wooded property and wishes to relocate completely. They will need a temple for 250 people and also a parish hall.…
Continue reading »A Painted Wooden Chalice Set
Historically in the Orthodox world, it must have been very common for chalice sets to be made of wood. Particularly in Russia, village churches would not have been able to afford vessels of fine metal, and essentially everything in an Old Russian village was made of wood. Little survives of the simple ecclesiastical furnishings and…
Continue reading »Degraded Iconicity VI: Towards Fullness of Iconicity
This is post 6 of 6 in the series “Degraded Iconicity” Fr. Silouan Justiniano thinks through the effect of contemporary image culture and mechanical reproduction on iconography and our sense of the sacred. The Degraded Iconicity of the Icon: The Icon’s Materiality and Mechanical Reproduction Degraded Iconicity II: Uplifting Materiality and Symbol. Degraded Iconicity III:…
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