A Cloisonné Enamel Reliquary Icon of Saint Vincent of Zaragoza

Editor’s note:  This article continues Aidan Hart’s recent article about a reliquary for Saint Vincent of Zaragoza and details Christabel Anderson’s process for making the cloisonnée icon.   This article contains a background to the history and technique of cloisonné enamel and a description of the processes used in making the cloisonné enamel icon plaque of Saint Vincent…

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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,…

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Theophany and What Sacred Art Does

You enter a silent museum.  Standing at an appropriate distance, you gaze at a piece of art set against a clinically white wall.  The art is lit as to leave no glare or shine and you as the viewer leave no shadow on it.  Enough space is allotted all around the art so to be admired without…

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The Ass and The Ox in The Nativity Icon

There is no ass or ox in the Biblical narratives of the birth of Christ.  Yet, besides the Christ Child himself, the ass and the ox are the most ancient and stable elements in the iconography of the nativity.  In fact the earliest example of a nativity known to us contains only the swaddled Christ in the manger flanked by the ox…

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Designing a Syrian Orthodox Panagia

I was recently asked by a young student of St-Vladimir’s Seminary to make a Panagia which he wanted to give to his bishop.  This student is of Indian background and a Syrian Orthodox.  I have always been fascinated by Orthodoxy in India,  the stories of St-Thomas, the link with Nestorian Christianity and also their long…

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