Aesthetic Nepsis, Enargeia and Theophany: Looking for the Christian Image

 This article was written by Dr. Cornelia Tsakiridou, associate professor at LaSalle University and author of Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity.  The content is based on the talk Dr. Tsakiridou gave at Princeton University on March 13th, 2014 which was sponsored by Princeton’s Orthodox Christian Fellowship and Florovsky Society. Introduction (1) Saint Porphyrios the Kausokalyvite used to…

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Holy Icons in Today’s World (Pt.3): Ecology

We turn now to our second subject of ecology, looking in particular at icons of Pentecost and Transfiguration. [Pentecost]When I was learning to drive, one of the first things I was told was to keep my eyes on the road because the car would follow my gaze. It is the same with any civilisation: its…

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Holy Icons in Today’s World (Pt.2): Icons and Modern Art

The transfiguration icon and modern art Christ takes with him His disciples Peter, James and John up a mountain, traditionally taken to be Mount Tabor. The Gospels then tell us that Christ’s face and garments shine with light, brighter than the sun. Moses and Elijah also appear before the disciples, talking with Jesus about His…

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Update on the Dome Frescoes at Santa Rosa, CA

Iconographer Fr. Patrick Doolan and his assistant, Father Moses, continue their extraordinary fresco work at St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church in Santa Rosa, CA (OCA). They have recently completed the angel range of the dome. (The first phase – the Pantocrator – was described in this article from last fall.) These photos show their work over…

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Adapting a Painted Icon to Carving

One of the exciting aspects of the renewal in icon carving we have seen in the last few decades is how this renewal is in a constant dialogue with painted icons.  One of the visible goals, one of my own goals, is a search to infuse into the carved image some of the visual aspects…

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Book Review: Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity

I believe Dr. Cornelia Tsakiridou’s book, Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity, published by Ashgate press in 2013, is one of the most important books about icons published since the classic work, The Meaning of Icons, an audacious claim given the monumental nature of Ouspensky’s and Lossky’s work. Icons in Time, Persons in Eternity asks…

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A Contemporary Opus Sectile Icon

Last year, I promised our readers that I would try to create an opus sectile icon, that is an icon that joins different stones together to make an image.  I recently had the chance to create something that is a mix of carving and mosaic and is probably as close as I am going to…

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Orthodox Banners for the March for Life

New World Byzantine Studios donated new banners for the Orthodox delegation to the annual March for Life, which took place on January 22nd in Washington D.C. The project began when members of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary expressed a desire for attractive new banners that would project the character and dignity of Orthodoxy. Andrew Gould designed and made them…

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