At the centre of the Nativity icon—and, in fact, an image of Christmas complete in itself—is the stable cave. Within its dark outline, the wonder of the incarnate Christ dwells, along with his mother and a pair of animals. I think it’s fair to say the Nativity icon is especially beautiful within the iconographic canon, …
For the past five or six years, I’ve been working on the icon of Christ’s Nativity. Unlike a portrait icon of a saint—which I can usually design and sketch with a week spent learning, praying, and sketching—a festival icon is far more complicated in both its composition and theology, so the time spent designing any …
Sts. Zenaida and PhilonellaThe Charitable Physicians— October 11th — The story of Zenaida and Philonella is not well known in the Catholic Church, but it really should be. These two early Christian saints were bright, intelligent women who are the first canonized medical doctors for their work as physicians in the church. Through them we …
With the angel and the youths depicted in The Fiery Furnace, all that was left was the rendering of the soldiers in the bottom third of the icon. And, it was here that I think the vision inspired by St. Basil’s commentary on the nature of fire in consumption and illumination really took form. The …
In sketching a cartoon for the icon of the Fiery Furnace, I found that it divided quite naturally into three horizontal layers. In the centre layer were the three young men and their prayerful worship of God. As my pencil moved to the upper third of the icon’s drawing, The Angel of the Lord began …
To my understanding, there are many ways an icon can beautifully depict an event. The most simple of these is a historical narrative. In this case, the iconographer brings together scripture, tradition, and history, and renders an image of that event. The result of such icons can be beautiful and meaningful as the icon weaves …
In the Book of Daniel, there is an account of four young men who are forcibly taken from their home in Jerusalem to serve in the Babylonian courts after the city falls to the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar. The most famous youth is Daniel himself, whose exploits are recorded throughout the book, but in the third chapter, we also have an account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—his countrymen and fellow captives. The icon of The Fiery Furnace centres on the story of these young men.
One of the icons painted this summer was Noah the Just. As a saint chosen to be part of the studio’s Icons at Home Project, and as an icon that I was planning to highlight in an article for Mortise & Tenon, it was one that I looked forward to on many different levels. What I …
The belief that icons reveal the eternal truth embodied in Jesus Christ within the place and time is at the centre of the studio’s work here in Conestoga. It was with great joy that the studio accepted a commission to paint an icon of the Washing of the Disciples’ Feet last year. The Washing of …
Saint Anthony is known today as the “Lamp of Monasticism,” the father of all who seek the ascetic life. In his time, there existed unmarried men and women who lived ascetic lives in the Church. But, it was he who established a life of seclusion and prayer as a means of dying to the world …