Theory
The Icon Painting Tradition and Modern Art: Hermeneutical Considerations
To articulate what is past does not mean to recognize ‘how it really was’. It means to take control of a memory, as it flashes in a moment of danger. Walter Benjamin In 1557, the Corpus Historiae Byzantinae, a series initiated by the German monk and humanist Hieronymus Wolf[1], was published. Ever since, the region…
Continue reading »A New Icon of St. Mary of Egypt and St. Zosimas: Notes on Form & Symbolism
A New Icon of St. Mary of Egypt and St. Zosimas Notes on Form & Symbolism By Fr. Silouan Justiniano In thee, O Mother, was exactly preserved what was according to the divine image. For thou didst take the cross and follow Christ, and by thy life, didst teach us to ignore the flesh,…
Continue reading »The Robot, the Mutant and The Artist
[1]One of the weaknesses in our vision of the world is that we tend to look at what surrounds us from one side of an opposition. This is inevitable as humanity’s existence unfolds like a wheel, waxing and waning, pulled by opposite forces from extreme to extreme. These extremes feed each other, call each other…
Continue reading »Interview with Serbian Iconographer Todor Mitrovic: On the Dialogue Between the Sacred and Secular Arts
This article was revised and proofread by Jennifer Leslie. Todor Mitrovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia in 1972. He graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts (FLU) University of Arts, Belgrade in 1997. He was awarded a Master of Arts Degree in 2006 and Doctor of Arts in 2015. The title of his PhD art…
Continue reading »The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon: Part III
This is post 3 of 3 in the series “The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon” Fr. Silouan Justiniano examines the controversial question of style in icons and whether or not composition and stylistic tropes are meaningful in the theology, making and use of the icon. The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon : Abstraction vs. Naturalism…
Continue reading »The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon: Part II
This is post 2 of 3 in the series “The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon” Fr. Silouan Justiniano examines the controversial question of style in icons and whether or not composition and stylistic tropes are meaningful in the theology, making and use of the icon. The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon : Abstraction vs. Naturalism…
Continue reading »The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon : Abstraction vs. Naturalism Reconsidered
This is post 1 of 3 in the series “The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon” Fr. Silouan Justiniano examines the controversial question of style in icons and whether or not composition and stylistic tropes are meaningful in the theology, making and use of the icon. The Pictorial Metaphysics of the Icon : Abstraction vs. Naturalism…
Continue reading »Two images of the Church and why they should not be confused.
Christological and Pneumatological Images of the Church In early Christian art, there developed a series of complementary visual relationships which I have discussed on numerous occasions and have come to often characterize as the right hand and the left hand of Christ. These elements, like the ass and the ox, St-Peter and St-Paul, the good…
Continue reading »Hope and Fragility: An Interview With Neo Coptic Iconographer Stéphane René
The Coptic tradition of iconography is one of which we know very little about in the West. So many of the ancient monuments were destroyed or came to disrepair as Copts in Egypt were subject to Islamic rule in the 7th century. It is only recently that the old monuments are being rediscovered, cleaned and restored properly.…
Continue reading »The Samaritan Woman, Baptism and the Hexagon
A little while ago an iconographer wrote me to ask advice on what shape he should make the well in an icon of the Samaritan Woman, who is known in tradition as St-Photini. After answering him, I realized that this detail in the icon is a good example of how so much can be hidden…
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