New Mosaic of Christ Pantocrator in Cardiff, Wales
Having studied mosaics all over the world for many years I was delighted to receive a commission last year to create a mosaic for a church in Wales. I completed the illustrated mosaic of Christ Pantocrator in March this year. It is sited on the exterior wall of St Martin’s Church of Wales in Roath,…
Continue reading »Andreas Ritzos and OAJ Nexus
When Andrew Gould launched the Orthodox Arts Journal (OAJ) in June of 2012, he had in mind the clearinghouse model it has become. It is a service that informs and engages readers in helping to create a culture that values quality Orthodox arts. It is hoped by this effort that a market will emerge…
Continue reading »An Icon of the Kingdom of God: The Integrated Expression of all the Liturgical Arts – Part 9: Linens
This is post 9 of 12 in the series “An Icon of the Kingdom of God” Andrew Gould gives a unifying vision of how all the liturgical arts complement each other to create a living icon of the Kingdom of God. An Icon of the Kingdom of God: The Integrated Expression of all the Liturgical…
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When the Archbishop of Canterbury met with the Pope of Rome in mid-June, they exchanged gifts. Archbishop Justin Welby presented Pope Francis with an illumination of the Pope’s motto, taken from the Venerable Bede’s homilies on St. Matthew’s Gospel – “Miserando atque Eligendo“ – in the context of the original, it is taken to mean “lowly…
Continue reading »Degraded Iconicity V: Subtle Docetism; Approach to Materials
This is post 5 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:…
Continue reading »One Year Already
It was a bit more than a year ago that we posted our first article on the Orthodox Arts Journal in the hopes of fostering Orthodox traditional arts of all kinds. The OAJ is the brainchild of a few of us hoping to see a space where individuals could encounter the beauty, richness and diversity of liturgical…
Continue reading »Prosopon Conference Online
A few months ago, we posted an article about a conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Prosopon School of Iconography and Iconology. The event took place in April of this year in Princeton NJ. They had 120 people attend, mostly from the US, but also from England, Estonia and Russia. For those nearby, there…
Continue reading »Ethiopian Carving
Since the post I wrote on Ethiopian art has attracted many comments, I thought I would share a few thoughts on Ethiopian carving. I had seen images of Ethiopian carving before my trip there and was looking forward to finding where they came from. It is in the city of Axum, where the fabled Ark of…
Continue reading »Is There Really a Patristic Critique of Icons
Gabe Martini has written a nice concise defense of icons in the Patristic record for the Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy blog. It is a response to a Protestant article, but it shows nicely how thin the opposition to icons is in the Church Fathers. Gabe relies strongly on our own fr.Steven Bigham’s books and so I…
Continue reading »The Apocalypse Art Prize
“The first rule of art is beauty.” So begins “A Primer of Pictorial Devices in Medieval Painting” written by artist Gloria Thomas. The primer is a guide to competitors in the Apocalypse Art Prize. The prize is $10,000 and the deadline for entry is December 31, 2013. Complete information about the prize and how to…
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