Orthodox Icons

Images of saints and martyrs have long adorned Eastern Orthodox churches, reminding believers of the world beyond their senses. For many centuries after the Renaissance, icons were viewed by Westerners as stiff and naïve, a reminder of primitive art prior to discovery of the law of perspective.

Creation of icons, however, is one of the world’s oldest artistic traditions, and icons can powerfully inspire spiritual contemplation. “Icons are spiritual Christian art par excellence,” says Bulgarian artist Encho Avramov.

While Western art honors originality, dramatic displays of originality are inappropriate for iconographers, who strive to make their figures look the same so that universality is stressed over the painter’s individuality. Iconographers often trace or “preserve” outlines from previous icons, known as prototypes, that have been passed down for generations.

Click here to see additional icons.

On our Summer 2006 trip to Bulgaria we purchased about 75 extraordinary new icons, none of which is yet catalogued here.  If you live in the Michiana area, you are welcome to come by to see the new selections, but we likely won't have these catalogued and posted this year.

All of our Bulgarian iconographers, including Ivan Zhabov, use the ancient methods for creating their works. They paint on boards covered with gesso, and laboriously mix dry pigments into egg tempera paint. The prototypes which our artists follow are all in Bulgarian monasteries and cathedrals.

Just as an iconographer is an image writer rather than a traditional painter, an icon must be read rather than looked at simply as an aesthetic object. Nearly every aspect of an icon has symbolic significance – even the shape of the board on which it is painted can represent, for instance, the arch of heaven. Jesus always is identified by his halo, which is a cross inscribed with the Greek letters omicron, omega, and nu, which stands for “He Who Is.”

The nose and fingers of icon figures always are slender, denoting spiritual refinement. The figures in traditional icons are fixed in order to avoid any suggestion of portraiture. Faces always face the viewer or, at most, are in a three-quarters pose, so that both eyes are visible. “A spiritual person cannot be depicted incomplete, with one eye,” according to tradition.

Christ’s right hand often forms the Orthodox benediction, which spells out a stylized “IC XC,” which represent “Jesus Christ” in the Greek and Old Bulgarian alphabet. When Jesus is depicted as Pantocrator (“Ruler of All”), the gospels he holds are always closed; He is the holder of the law. In other guises, such as Christ Enthroned, the book may be open, symbolizing his role as lawgiver.

The clothing in icons is non-naturalistic – it is depicted in stylized geometrical forms, not as it would appear in real life. This is part of the unrealistic nature of icons, designed to lift the viewer out of the material world and into the spiritual world. The traditional gold background of most icons is an attempt to incorporate heavenly light, a color one never finds in nature.

The icons depicted here are meant to be examples of the types and sizes of icons that we carry. See also our information about our new Anabaptist Images series, dones in collaboration with the Historical Commitee of Mennonite Church U.S.A. We have many more icons in stock, all of which are unique, so feel free to contact us with your inquiries.

Icons, Page 2

Icons, Page 3

(Borrowed, in part, from Mark Arnest, “Art of Devotion: Orthodox Icons Inspire Spiritual Contemplation,” The Gazette, 2 April 2000)