Disney’s new live-action movie, Beauty and the Beast, has stirred up considerable controversy. Proponents of both feminism and the gay agenda have claimed the movie as a triumph for their cause. As an Orthodox Christian who has great respect for the power of fairy tales to shape our world view, I found these allegations troubling. […]
This is post 12 of 12 in the series “An Icon of the Kingdom of God” This is the twelfth part of an ongoing serial (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11) Of all the honors a king could bestow, the […]
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 […]
There is a long tradition of relief sculpture in the Orthodox Church’s liturgical art tradition, but very little in the way of three dimensional sculpture. Can sculpture in the round act like an icon, leading us through itself to its prototype? Although, for reasons discussed below, the Orthodox Church is unlikely to adopt sculpture in […]
Editorial Note: In the light of recent events in Gaza, I asked Ian Knowles the Director of the Bethlehem Icon Center to introduce us to this wonderful project. In such a desperate political situation, sacred art has been focal point to bring about collaboration between Orthodox, Coptic, Catholic and Syrian Palestinians in the desire to […]
Some of you might be interested in reading a short article I wrote for the New Liturgical Movement. I teach art once a week in a small Traditionalist Catholic school. It has been a great joy to teach in a context so friendly to liturgical art. On my first day, as I was explaining what […]
This is the last in a six-part series. Part 1, Part2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 The Role of the Icon in the Movement Toward Unity What role then can the icon play in the Ecumenical Movement? Will it be an instrument leading to the healing of schisms or a sign of division? […]
This is post 5 of 5 in the series “The Icon: Sign of Unity or Division?” ( Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) The Renaissance of the Canonical Icon Since the end of the 19th century, starting in Russia, the Orthodox Church in all its zones began to experience a rediscovery of its own […]
This is post 1 of 5 in the series “The Icon: Sign of Unity or Division?” When we think about ecumenism and the problems that keep Christian Churches from healing the schisms between them, we rarely think about Christian art: neither as a bone of contention nor as a point of unity. Historically, during the […]