Iconography

This was made as a gift for friends of mine who are Greek Orthodox as a house warming present. I had to do some research!

Iconography is a branch of art history.  It comes from the Greek word for “image” and “to write or draw”.  Icons are religious images.  Pictures that have religious meaning are used as subject matter on icons and become objects of personal devotion and meditation. 

Are icons idols?  One of the 10 commandments is “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”.  I spoke about this with Father Michael of the Greek Orthodox Church in Los Angeles.  According to the Catholic and Greek Orthodox view the use of icons is not idolatry because it doesn’t involve worshiping or surrendering of the heart. The icon is not replacing God. The icons are just a visual language. They “speak” certain truths of faith to the believers, only they do that through the sense of vision.  They help to focus prayer and thought similar to looking at a photo of a loved one and feeling love. He did point out that although Jewish and Muslim faiths do not use icons there is mention of God instructing Moses to create images of cherubim for the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus. 

Byzantine painting of icons are done with powder pigments and egg yolk.  The images look flat. 

Renaissance painters used oil paint and tend to look more life like. 

For my painting I used a combination of the two styles.  I used gold leaf and oil paint.

First stage is painting the wood a red color and adding the gold foil and a sealant.

Next I drew an outline with a pencil.

And then started to layer on the paint. It takes many layers of thin paint to achieve the final look.

And finally the icon was blessed by Father Michael who is an artist himself.

Note to anyone wanting instruction in Byzantine Greek Iconography. Check out Theodoros Papadopoulos at https://theodoreicons.com/