Solrunn Nes, one of Europe's most admired iconographers, illuminates the world of Christian icons, explaining the motifs, gestures, and colors common to these profound symbols of faith. Nes explores in depth a number of famous icons, including those of the Greater Feasts, the Mother of God, and a number of the better-known saints, enriching her discussion with references to Scripture, early Christian writings, and liturgy. She also leads readers through the process and techniques of icon painting, showing each step with photographs, and includes more than fifty of her own original works of art.
Back in print after ten years, this searching work uses the imagery of icons as the basis for an exploration of the true mystical source of the Christian faith. Richard Temple points out that icons themselves are essentially mystical at heart, for they are the key to an underground stream of knowledge aimed at the civilization of the whole person -- body, soul, and spirit -- that developed from Platonic thought, the school of Alexandria, and the Orphic mysteries. As the author discusses the meaning of the icons depicted in this volume, the richness and profundity of a lost tradition is gradually and hauntingly revealed.
This lovely gift book about approaching and praying with icons everyday has over 60 full color images of Sr. Faith's icons, each paired with a scripture and an inspirational word. Experience how these beautiful icons help us live a good life, what they have to offer, what they did for Sr. Faith, and what they can do for you. Icons are an invitation to go beyond our world; to take a moment to look as through a window into heaven. The space they create gives us a wonderful and open access to reach out toward God and know him deeply in a new way. They are meant to enrich our spiritual lives. They were created to touch and form us and have an ability to soothe and confront where necessary. They provide a place to gather our wandering attention and direct it toward God. Click here to see the book trailer!
An icon (from the Greek word "eikon," "image") is a wooden panel painting of a holy person or scene from Orthodox Christianity, the religion of the Byzantine Empire that is practiced today mainly in Greece and Russia. It was believed that these works acted as intermediaries between worshipers and the holy personages they depicted. Their pictorial language is stylized and primarily symbolic, rather than literal and narrative. Indeed, every attitude, pose, and color depicted in an icon has a precise meaning, and their painters--usually monks--followed prescribed models from iconographic manuals. The goal of this book is to catalogue the vast heritage of images according to iconographic type and subject, from the most ancient at the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai to those from Greece, Constantinople, and Russia. Chapters focus on the role of icons in the Orthodox liturgy and on common iconic subjects, including the fathers and saints of the Eastern Church and the life of Jesus and his followers. As with other volumes in the Guide to Imagery series, this book includes a wealth of color illustrations in which details are called out for discussion.
This twentieth anniversary edition (more than 111,000 copies sold) brings Henri J.M. Nouwen's writings on Eastern Orthodox icons to a new generation and adds to the Nouwen collection published by Ave Maria Press. With a foreword by Br. Robert Lentz, a well-known painter of contemporary icons, this classic Nouwen book invites readers to pray with four Russian icons with their eyes open by emphasizing seeing or gazing, which are at the heart of Eastern spirituality. Nouwen's meditations reveal his viewing of the icons not as decorations, but holy places. The book includes four full-color icons for private contemplation or meditation.
Linette Martin's style and simplicity of language are transparent and clear, so rare in other similar writings on the topic. -Metropolitan Emilianos Timiadis
Step-by-step instructions for painting icons, from original drawings through finished product. This is the sequel to the authors previous work, A Brush with God, for advanced beginners, intermediate, and advanced iconographers. It presents greater detail and instructions for creating entirely new icons. One major feature of this book is the full-page sketches that artists can photocopy and use as the basis of their own icons, providing a unique and much-requested resource. Includes eight full-color plates of the author's original icons. Chapters and topics include: Introduction and contemporary reflections on iconography, spirituality, and technique. Highlighting folds on full-length figures, including black and white renderings of draped legs, arms, and torsos. Architectural and landscape renderings in Byzantine iconography, including background shadow and highlighting techniques, plus inverse perspective. Festal icons, involving multiple figures, landscapes, architecture, furniture, vegetation, and animals. Construction of heads, figures, and analysis of whole compositions, sacred geometry and proportion.
Mary Jane Miller discusses her Icon Painting technique, the history and meaning of icon painting. The How to book orients icon painters and examines why icons continue to be a spiritual tool. From a uniquely Western perspective, this step-by-step study of art and teaching of a practical course in Icon Painting technique. The religion and spirituality of this technique brings to life the sacred and beautiful art of egg tempera painting. Included are egg tempera recipe guides and patterns to work from. Beginners, intermediate, and advanced iconographers will all find new insights.With in-depth information, invaluable advice, and superb illustrations of each step, this is a most comprehensive guide to the philosophy and practice of icon painting. In addition, this Icon Painting technique book can be read as a step-by-step guide of how to create your own icon. The 12-step sequence put forth here is a guideline or road map for the process from vision to creation. However, while easy to follow detailed instructions about technique and materials are provided, my main objective is to emphasize the mystical experience of the process itself, bringing the the Icon Painting technique to a better understanding of the two natures of Christ - flesh and spirit. Details; Looking at Icons Revealed, One Secret Prayer Method, Brief History of Iconography, Organic Egg Tempera, Icon of St Luke, Overview of How to Paint Icons, Wood, Linen, Gesso and Gold, First lines, Chaos of Color, Second lines, Highlights and Veils, Final Lines, Analysis of Icon Images, Mixing Paint for Lettering, Prayers for an Iconographer Egg Temepra and Earth Pigments 41 Rules for the Iconographer 42 Conclusion
