St. Tikhon’s Seminary to Present “Hymns of Holy Russia in the New World”

A Master Class and Concert with Vladimir Gorbik — Feb. 28 to Mar. 3, 2013 As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, Saint Tikhon’s Seminary will host a rigorous three-day master class for the select student choirs of three of America’s premier Orthodox Christian seminaries — Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, and Holy Trinity…

Continue reading »

Contemporary Georgian Art

There is a facebook page called “Contemporary Christian Art” but most people would not notice because it is all in Georgian script.  Although boasting hundreds of pictures of early art from all of Christendom, the most remarkable aspect to those of us who are not in Georgia is how it prominently features contemporary Georgian liturgical…

Continue reading »

Can Statuary Act as Icon?

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…

Continue reading »

The Unusual Glass-Bead Icons of Angelika Artemenko

Icon by Angelika Artemenko

I have just learned of a most unusual iconographer from Ukraine whose medium is primarily glass beads. Her name is Angelika Artemenko, 26 years old. Despite her unconventional technique, she works with great care and piety, emphasizing the blessing of her bishop in all she does. Ms. Artemenko begins by painting the hands and faces on canvas.…

Continue reading »

St-Peter on The Right. St-Paul on the Left.

This is post 2 of 3 in the series “The Right and Left Hand in Iconography” Jonathan Pageau examines the recurrence of left and right hand symbolism in traditional art and how they create a pattern of engagement in the world. Mercy on The Right. Rigor on The Left St-Peter on The Right. St-Paul on…

Continue reading »

Marble Revetments

Today I would like to call attention to marble revetments, meaning the decorative marble paneling that clads the lower walls of a Byzantine church. It is impossible to overstate the architectural importance of revetments. In the grander Byzantine churches, the marbles covered most of the interior surface, dominating the visual experience of the church far…

Continue reading »

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…

Continue reading »

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…

Continue reading »