Posts Tagged ‘Byzantine’
Building a Simple and Beautiful Iconostasis for a Mission Church
I have long felt that the iconostasis is the single most important element in an Orthodox church – perhaps more important even than the building itself. But tragically, in America, we have few really well-designed iconostases. This is especially so in mission churches, where iconostases are usually built by amateurs using plywood or worse (more…
Continue reading »Carving the Virgin Hodegetria
(Editor’s note: this article was written by Martin Earle, Aidan Hart’s studio assistant who worked to create a commission they received for a statue of the Hodogetria. Martin can be contacted at mart_earle@yahoo.co.uk. ) I always brace myself for a bit of anti-Catholic sentiment when meeting an Orthodox Christian for the first time. A convert myself, I…
Continue reading »Today and Tomorrow: Principles in the Training of Future Iconographers pt.2
This is post 2 of 2 in the series “Today and Tomorrow: Principles in the Training of Future Iconographers” Aidan Hart looks at principles of style, composition and fabrication in icons, how these are meaningful in our consideration of iconography and how such considerations should be transmitted to the next generation of artists. Today and…
Continue reading »Design for an Orthodox Church in Amish Country
I was recently asked to design a new chapel for Saint Gregory Palamas Orthodox Monastery in Perrysville, Ohio. It is an especially pleasing project for me because the site is located in the heart of the most idyllic Amish farm country – rolling hills, huge simple barns, elegant Victorian farmhouses, quiet roads with horse-drawn buggies.…
Continue reading »Interview with Serbian Iconographer Todor Mitrovic: On the Dialogue Between the Sacred and Secular Arts
This article was revised and proofread by Jennifer Leslie. Todor Mitrovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia in 1972. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts (FLU) University of Arts, Belgrade in 1997. He was awarded a Master of Arts Degree in 2006 and Doctor of Arts in 2015. The title of his PhD art…
Continue reading »A Miracle of Liturgical Art: The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God at Yasenevo
This past fall I had the opportunity to visit a construction project that is nothing short of a miracle. I saw a group of mostly volunteers and amateurs, working with small donations, building a church to rival any monument in the history of Christendom. The project was recently completed, consecrated by His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill,…
Continue reading »A Carved and Inlaid Cross, a Collaborative Work
I have recently completed a small but highly interesting project, two years in the making, and involving several master artisans. It is a wooden cross with carved stone icons, crafted like a jewel, wholly traditional, and yet quite unlike anything seen before. This is one of those projects that grew, perhaps providentially, from an initially…
Continue reading »An Interview with Iconographer Julia Bridget Hayes
Julia Bridget Hayes is a talented iconographer working in Greece. Her work is a truly wonderful example of creativity within tradition. We asked to interview her and to share these images of her work that she might become better known to our readers. A. Gould: Julia, you were born in South Africa, but now…
Continue reading »Deisis – An Iconographic Installation
The truth is that when I was offered the possibility to set up a small exhibition on the occasion of the 34th Symposium of Art and Theology, organised by the School of Theology, University of Navarra, I did not have sufficient material, as I was moving and dismantling my workshop. On the other hand, as…
Continue reading »Developing an Anglo-Byzantine Calligraphy for Memorial Plaques
I would like to describe an especially challenging recent project, in which I had the honor to collaborate with a master calligrapher. I was asked to create a pair of memorial plaques flanking an icon. The purpose was to commemorate donors who contributed to two separate capital campaigns benefitting Saint Nicholas Melkite Church, in Rochester,…
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