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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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Russia and the West: Artistic Unity in Christ—A Reflection on Kastalsky’s Requiem

By Hieromonk Herman (Majkrzak) on October 7, 2020
Russia and the West: Artistic Unity in Christ—A Reflection on Kastalsky’s Requiem

In Babel long ago they wanted to build a tower that would reach heaven, and in Belfast in 1912 they wanted to build a ship that nothing could sink. When, in April of that year, the Titanic did sink, the aspirations and pride of the late Victorian era sank with it. I like to think […]

Posted in Music, Theory | Tagged Byzantine, hieromonk herman, Kastalsky Requiem, Russia, the west, Theory October 8, 2020

‘Being’, The Art and Life of Father Sophrony

By Christabel Helena Anderson on September 3, 2020
‘Being’, The Art and Life of Father Sophrony

Archimandrite Sophrony, painting Christ at the Last Supper, early 1980s, the Monastery of St John the Baptist, Refectory.[1]  Image: ©The Stavropegic Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, Essex.   Editorial note: This is the second part of a series on the artistic path and iconographic legacy of Saint Sophrony (Sakharov) as seen through a collection […]

Posted in Artist Features, Iconography, Reviews, Theory, Writers | Tagged abyss, art, biography, book review, Elder Sophrony, England, English Iconography, essex, Father Sophrony, icon painting, iconographer, iconography, liturgical art, Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Paris, Russia, Russian Orthodox, Saint Silouan, St. Silouan the Athonite, St. Sophrony, St. Sophrony the Athonite, Theology, Tradition September 4, 2020

Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift…Part IV

By Todor Mitrović on July 13, 2020
Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift...Part IV

  How to Conceive a Paradigm Shift? In the end, of course, we cannot naïvely expect that this change of paradigm can be imposed by some “official directive.” As the “chair and apple” example shows, such change happens neither easily nor suddenly. The need for change can be voiced, or even generated by an individual, […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged art history, conceptual metaphors, diachronic, expressive power, icon painting, idea, internalize, invention, paradigm shift, studio, synchronic, Tradition, utilitarian, visual language July 13, 2020

Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift…Part III

By Todor Mitrovic on July 6, 2020
Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift...Part III

    On the Need for the New Paradigm   First, the suggested shift in paradigm is not just playing with words, nor is it merely for amusement or for increasing our vocabulary. Neither are we following some fashionable intellectual trend. From the conventional meaning of the term paradigm, I would emphasize its ‘active’ semantic aspects. These suppose […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged artistic language, canon, church art, cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor, Icon, icon painting, paradigm, rules, Tradition July 6, 2020

Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift…Part II

By Todor Mitrovic on June 29, 2020
Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift...Part II

    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 […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged canon, Canonicity, Icons, juridical, language, oral, painters' manuals, painting, rules, scholia, technical, Tradition, unwritten, unwritten painters' tradition, visual, visual language July 1, 2020

Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift

By Todor Mitrovic on June 23, 2020
Canon: Time for a Paradigm Shift

Editorial note: This post is the first of a series of four which touch on the topic of “canonicity” in icon painting. The series consists of an expanded version of an article previously published in Serbian and in Russian. * The author, Todor Mitrović, is one of the foremost representatives of the icon painting revival […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged canon, Canonicity, Icon, iconography, juridical, law, prescriptions, rule July 1, 2020

Creating Culture Today

By Jonathan Pageau on May 7, 2020
Creating Culture Today

In this video, I interview Benedict Sheehan and his wife Talia-Maria.  Benedict is well known by OAJ readers as a composer and the music director at St-Tikhon’s Seminary. He has been quite active in the world of Orthodox music and recently celebrated for his composition of a Divine Liturgy.  In the last few months, what […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged Artefact, Benedict Sheehan, choir, culture, Jonathan Pageau, liturgy, Maria Sheehan, Nicholas Kotar, Orhtodox culture, PaTRAM, St. Tikhon’s Seminary, the symbolic world May 7, 2020

On Pronouncing Saints’ Names in English

By Hieromonk Herman (Majkrzak) on January 22, 2020
On Pronouncing Saints’ Names in English

At the Name of Jesus, every knee shall bow … and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.       —Phil. 2:10, 11 I You might remember the old song in which a man and woman argue about pronunciation. “You like potayto and I like potahto; you like tomayto and I like […]

Posted in Music, Theory | Tagged Byzantine, choral, English, greek, hieromonk herman, liturgical, Music, Orthodox, pronunciation, saint's names, singing January 25, 2020

Iconography Shows us the Pattern of Reality

By Jonathan Pageau on January 3, 2020
Iconography Shows us the Pattern of Reality

In November, I was asked to speak at St. Tikhon’s Seminary for the annual meeting of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM).  It was my first time at the monastery and school, and I was quite humbled to participate in such an event.  It was also an honour to speak of Christian Symbolism in the last […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged iconography, iconology, Jonathan Pageau, St. Tikhon's, Symbolism January 6, 2020

Preparatory Drawings as Temporary Icons: An Alternative Solution

By Fr. Silouan Justiniano on October 23, 2019
Preparatory Drawings as Temporary Icons: An Alternative Solution

In preparation for our patronal feast, at the Monastery of St. Dionysios the Areopagite, we ran into the problem of our unfinished, blank iconostasis. What could be done for the occasion in order to make it more presentable? First, as is common, we thought of speedily acquiring temporary icon reproductions to fill in the empty […]

Posted in Theory October 23, 2019
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The Journal covers visual arts, music,
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