Iconography
Interview With Nikola Sarić
Tell us a bit about your formative years; how you became interested in art and icon painting in particular. I grew up next to a talented father, so watching him painting was the first step towards art. When I was a child I was reading my father’s art books and I can still remember how…
Continue reading »The Sacred Arts Initiative “Rethinking Sacred Arts”
The Sacred Arts Initiative “Rethinking Sacred Arts” A Review Although the task of OAJ has mainly been to work towards the promotion of the revival of traditional Orthodox liturgical arts, along the way we have not hesitated to engage the sphere of secular art. This has not only been relegated to a critique of its…
Continue reading »Judge and Victim : The Two Images of Christ
There are two basic images of Christ in the Church, each marking one of the two poles which hold the very limits of the cosmos. The first image is that of the Pantocrator and its derivatives, essentially Christ shown in the guise of a glorious emperor, both the origin and the final judge of the…
Continue reading »A Grave Cross for Father Matthew Baker
When Jonathan Pageau and I were asked to make a grave cross for the late Fr. Matthew Baker, we were humbled by the task. Fr. Matthew was a beloved young priest, a prominent Orthodox thinker, and father of six children. His tragic death in an automobile accident on March 1st, 2015, on his way home…
Continue reading »Improving Icon Carving Through Drawing
One of the complex questions that faces modern icon carving is the pervasive presence of the painted icon within the tradition of iconography. For many reasons which I hope to write about in the future, icon carving became a somewhat marginalized art form as the centuries advanced. And so for myself and the small group…
Continue reading »The Altar and The Portico (pt.2): Gallery Art
This is post 2 of 2 in the series “The Altar and The Portico” Aidan Hart explores the relationships and differences between sacred art and secular gallery art. The Altar and The Portico (pt.1) The Altar and The Portico (pt.2): Gallery Art THE SACRED AND THE SECULAR The Relationship of Orthodox Iconography and Gallery Art…
Continue reading »The Altar and The Portico (pt.1)
This is post 1 of 2 in the series “The Altar and The Portico” Aidan Hart explores the relationships and differences between sacred art and secular gallery art. The Altar and The Portico (pt.1) The Altar and The Portico (pt.2): Gallery Art THE ALTAR AND THE PORTICO (PT.1) The Relationship of Orthodox Iconography and Gallery…
Continue reading »As if Through a Child’s Inner Eye: The Contemporary Icons of Maxim Sheshukov
The distinctively fresh and masterful work of Maxim Sheshukov, a contemporary iconographer working in Sviyazhsk (Kazan region of Russia), is another example of the best synthesis of creative interpretation and conformity to Tradition which we can find nowadays. His work was mentioned in passing in a previous article on Contemporary Iconographers of Russia, but I thought it…
Continue reading »The Dragons that Almost Exist
Explaining the icon of St-George slaying the dragon to a 4 year old is amazing. Explaining the icon of St-George to a 10 year old is excruciating — “Yeah, but dragons don’t exist, do they?”. Do they? When someone tells you that dragons don’t exist or that monsters don’t exist, what is it they are…
Continue reading »An Interview with Iconographer Seraphim O’Keefe
Editor’s Note: Seraphim O’Keefe is a promising young iconographer who has already done some remarkable work. We are pleased to feature his very interesting life story here, as well as images of his most recent major project – wall paintings at St. Cyprian Orthodox Church in Midlothian, Virginia. It is clear from the quality of…
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