Dr. Davor Džalto is professor of Religion, Art and Democracy at Saint Ignatios College in Sweden. His research focuses primarily on the exploration of human freedom and creativity, as metaphysical, political, as well as aesthetic concepts. All of these concerns come together in his book, The Human Work of Art: A Theological Appraisal of Creativity and […]
Are There Rules and Where to Find Them? However, how can we discuss the concept of a list of icon-painting rules if there is the slightest possibility that it might be imaginary? First, let us recall that imaginary entities can define our behavior just as much as physically existing ones. Let us […]
Spyros Papaloukas (1892-1957) was a major Greek painter of the first half of the twentieth century. Almost a legend for some, he was an innovator of Greek landscape painting. Although not mainly a church iconographer, he holds a very particular position alongside Photis Kontoglou in contemporary liturgical arts. He was born in 1892, started […]
This is post 2 of 2 in the series “The Question of Polychrome for Liturgical Woodcarving” In Part 1 of this article, I gave examples of historic Orthodox woodwork decorated with polychrome, and discussed the reasons why this can be effective. Specifically, I compared the visual impact of historic painted and gilded iconostases with modern […]
This is post 1 of 2 in the series “The Question of Polychrome for Liturgical Woodcarving” Among the traditional liturgical arts, one that stands out as being especially healthy and prolific nowadays is decorative woodcarving. Especially in Greece, workshops produce intricately carved church furnishings in impressive quantities. Almost every Greek church the world over […]
This is post 6 of 6 in the series “Degraded Iconicity” Conclusion: Towards Fullness of Iconicity Perhaps the Acheiropoietos is the most lucid “mirror reflection” of the Logos and as such the ideal icon, the lucidity or “iconicity” toward which all icons aspire. In it we encounter the principle of “direct imprinting” of the image […]