The Trinity by Andrei Rublev is undoubtedly the most famous Russian icon. Its reproductions can be found in various churches all over the world, not only in Orthodox churches but also in Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopalian. Even if an intelligent person is not interested in icon painting, he or she knows The Trinity. What is…
Continue readingSaviors on Weapon Boards
Two Kinds of Social Ethos during Wartime
Icon painting is rightly considered to be the visual expression of the Orthodox tradition. The icon speaks of the Gospel, the liturgy, the hymnography, the saints, the dogmas, and the pedagogy of the church. Icons testify to the reality of God’s Incarnation, the image of God in each of us, and mystically lead us…
Continue readingEncountering the Mandylion Icon of Christ
“The indescribable glory of His face was changing through grace”—Menaion for August. Since the feast-day of the Mandylion Ikon of Christ, memories of encountering it have been galvanizing my prayer, recalling an extraordinary encounter meeting it on pilgrimage many years ago. The Mandylion Icon “Not Made by Hands” occupies a central place among Orthodox images…
Continue readingThe Virtual and Spiritual Networks of Hagia Sophia
by Robert Nelson | ქართულ | Ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Like all Byzantine art historians, I am concerned about the conversion this year of Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Not being able to travel because of the pandemic, I only know about the current state of the building from images on the…
Continue readingDeifying Bodies of Color
Coloniality, Iconography, and the Black Lives Matter Movement
by Luis Josué Salés | Ελληνικά Amid a nationwide BLM movement calling for the removal of statues and monuments that enshrine, even glorify, the genocidal, colonizing, enslaving, and imperialistic past of the United States, well-known BLM activist Shaun King tweeted that “The statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down”…
Continue readingA Review of “Distant Relatives: Ancient Imagery of the Classical Pagan Past and Modern Byzantine Icons”
by Kassandra Ibrahim This fall, Fordham’s Museum of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Art opened a new exhibition entitled “Distant Relatives: Ancient Imagery of the Classical Pagan Past and Modern Byzantine Icons.” The exhibition features large mixed media collages by artist Joni Zavitsanos, whose work combines the traditional aspects of Byzantine Christian iconography with motifs of modern society. I…
Continue reading