THE MOSAIC APSE OF SANT’APOLLINARE IN CLASSE, RAVENNA: A Miracle of Design Aidan Hart There is some iconography that can only be described as miraculous. Such is the sixth century apse mosaic at the basilica of Saint Apollinare in Classe, five miles from Ravenna, Italy. Such works seem to flash forth, and are never – […]
A TALE OF TRANSFORMATION Two New Mosaics for St George’s Orthodox Church, Houston, Texas Aidan Hart This is the story of how two large mosaics for St George’s Orthodox Church in Houston Texas came to completion this January. The genesis of a mosaic is a tale of transformation, from sand to glass, to image, […]
The Transfiguration Secco for Lancaster University Catholic Chaplaincy Early in March my assistant Martin Earle, myself, and a former student from the Diploma in Icon Painting that I teach, Fran Whiteside, completed a secco wall painting of the Transfiguration. It took us just twelve days compared to the twenty months we had just spent on […]
Last year I was asked by a patron to carve a large icon of the Transfiguration. She said: “I am curious to see how you will do that.” I understood immediately what she meant, and her comment for me went to the core of what icon carving attempts to grapple with. So much of Orthodox theology, especially since St-Gregory of Palamas […]
This is post 12 of 12 in the series “An Icon of the Kingdom of God” This is the twelfth part of an ongoing serial (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11) Of all the honors a king could bestow, the […]
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 […]
Editor’s note: This is the first part of a talk given by Aidan in Texas last December (1). Images are taken directly from his presentation. We are made to be gods by grace, sons and daughters of the Living God. If we only saw what majesty and dignity is bestowed upon each of us here […]