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Orthodox Arts Journal — Articles and news for the promotion of traditional Orthodox Christian liturgical arts

— Articles and news for the promotion of traditional Orthodox Christian liturgical arts —

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“nativity”

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The Nativity Icon as an Image of Reality

By Jonathan Pageau on December 3, 2018
The Nativity Icon as an Image of Reality

The Nativity icon, like most festal icons, does not merely depict an event that happened two thousand years ago, but rather by its form and the hierarchy of its elements, shows us the inner workings of how the Divine Logos is Him by whom all things were made. The icon also shows us how His […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged iconography, iconology, Jonathan Pageau, nativity, the symbolic world, Video December 4, 2018

Sing Ye Carols: An Interview with Hierodeacon Herman

By Hieromonk Herman (Majkrzak) on November 24, 2015
Sing Ye Carols: An Interview with Hierodeacon Herman

Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), Chapel Music Director and Lecturer in Liturgical Music at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, has started a small ministry during this Nativity fast – a series of Facebook posts highlighting lesser-known hymns and carols from the Western tradition. You can enjoy his posts here: Fr. Herman’s Choral Advent Calendar. We thought this a good […]

Posted in Artist Features, Music | Tagged carols, christmas, herman, hierodeacon, hymns, nativity, paraliturgical January 22, 2020

The Cave in The Nativity Icon

By Jonathan Pageau on December 21, 2013
The Cave in The Nativity Icon

Just as the Ass and the Ox, the cave portrayed in the nativity icon is not specifically mentioned in Scripture as being the birthplace of Christ.  In fact, St-Luke’s account does not say exactly where Christ was born, only that The Holy Virgin lay him in a manger.  So why a cave? Why not a little […]

Posted in Iconography, Theory | Tagged cave, cavern, christmas, death, garments of skin, Icon, iconography, manger, nativity, stable, xmas July 8, 2014

The Ass and The Ox in The Nativity Icon

By Jonathan Pageau on December 24, 2012
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 […]

Posted in Iconography | Tagged ass, balaam, birth, Christ, christmas, donkey, Icon, iconography, Isaiah, Jonathan Pageau, nativity, Orthodox, ox, prophecy, sarcophagus, symbol, Symbolism December 19, 2014
 

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