Orthodox Arts Journal

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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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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 June 21, 2021

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

The Living Icon

By Anton Daineko on August 28, 2019
The Living Icon

Editor’s Note: This essay was originally written in Russian by master iconographer Anton Daineko of Minsk, Belarus. It beautifully explores the paradox of creativity within iconography from the very personal perspective of a lifelong practitioner. Anton and Ekaterina Daineko regularly teach icon-painting workshops in the USA, which are highly recommended. They have upcoming workshops in […]

Posted in Iconography, Theory | Tagged Byzantine, contemporary, Daineko, fresco, iconography, modern, Orthodox, russian, Theory August 28, 2019

‘The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting’: A Chinese painting manual offers inspiration to iconographers

By Aidan Hart on July 2, 2019
‘The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting’: A Chinese painting manual offers inspiration to iconographers

Truth is truth wherever it is found. In fact, it is all the more delicious when found in unexpected places. I was at the opening of an exhibition of The St John’s Bible, for which I had been one of the illuminators, and fell into conversation with one of the professors at Minnesota University. We […]

Posted in Iconography, Theory | Tagged Chinese painting, detail, dexterity, discipline, freedom, icon painting, methods, practice, technique, Tradition July 1, 2019

Understanding the Icons of Holy Week

By Jonathan Pageau on April 18, 2019
Understanding the Icons of Holy Week

During Holy Week, the Orthodox faithful will see several icons in the center of the church being commemorated. Although we are used to interpret icons as stand alone objects, I have found that it is sometimes best to see the language of icons as an inter-connected web of elements which speak to each other across different icons types. 

Posted in Theory | Tagged crucifixion, holy week, iconography, Icons, Jonathan Pageau, Pascha, Symbolism April 19, 2019

Brilliant Darkness: On St. Dionysios the Areopagite’s Blue Halo

By Fr. Silouan Justiniano on April 13, 2019
Brilliant Darkness: On St. Dionysios the Areopagite's Blue Halo

  …Timothy, my friend, my advice to you as you look for a sight of the mysterious things, is to leave behind you everything perceived and understood, everything perceptible and understandable, all that is not and all that is, and, with your understanding laid aside, to strive upward as much as you can towards union […]

Posted in Iconography, Theory | Tagged areopagite, Byzantine, dionysios, Icon, iconography, pseudo-dionysios, silouan justiniano, Symbolism, uncreated light April 15, 2019

The Nature of Divine Beauty

By Aidan Hart on March 13, 2019
The Nature of Divine Beauty

A Tough Love Many are drawn to the beauty of icons. But clearly this beauty is of a different order than, say, that of a Greek statue, or of a Renaissance painting. Icons are liturgical objects, created for prayer, a means of communion with the Lord. So what are some of the characteristics of divine […]

Posted in Theory | Tagged Aidan Hart, art, Beauty, divine beauty, iconography, Orthodox, Theory March 13, 2019

An Iconographer, a Contemporary Artist and a Movie Director Walk into a Bar

By Jonathan Pageau on March 4, 2019
An Iconographer, a Contemporary Artist and a Movie Director Walk into a Bar

Last September, I was invited by Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto to speak on a public panel as a prelude to the annual massive art event called Nuit Blanche. Wycliffe college is a somewhat conservative Anglican school, and on this panel were three artists who identify as Christian and who were asked to […]

Posted in Iconography, Theory | Tagged contemporary art, gloria kim, iconography, Jonathan Pageau, panel discussion, phil irish March 13, 2019
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