Posts Tagged ‘Symbolism’
Review of The Art of Seeing: Paradox and Perception in Orthodox Iconography by Fr. Maximos Constas
Fr. Maximos Constas, The Art of Seeing: Paradox and Perception in Orthodox Iconography. Alhambra, California: Sebastian Press, 2014. Pp. 263 + 73 color illustrations. Many readers of the Orthodox Arts Journal have some familiarity with the concept of symbol. Reader’s of Fr. Silouan Justiniano’s articles, for example, will know that contributors to the journal wrestle…
Continue reading »Sacred Symbol, Sacred Art
In February of this year I was invited by King’s University College to give a talk in their Veritas Series on faith and culture. The theme of this year’s series was “Speaking about God” exploring the different ways we express and address the Divine. I developed my talk in the context of the many discussions…
Continue reading »A Cloisonné Enamel Reliquary Icon of Saint Vincent of Zaragoza
Editor’s note: This article continues Aidan Hart’s recent article about a reliquary for Saint Vincent of Zaragoza and details Christabel Anderson’s process for making the cloisonnée icon. This article contains a background to the history and technique of cloisonné enamel and a description of the processes used in making the cloisonné enamel icon plaque of Saint Vincent…
Continue reading »Heaven Is Round. Earth Is Square.
This is post 4 of 4 in the series “Ancient Cosmology Today” Jonathan Pageau uses a phenomenological approach to explain traditional cosmology and its symbolism, explaining in what manner it is crucial to our experience of being in the world. Most of The Time The Earth Is Flat. Where is Heaven? Heaven and Earth in…
Continue reading »Nūn, Jonah and The Sign of The Fish
As we watch Oriental Christians in Iraq and Syria being branded, massacred, chased out of the cities they have occupied for nearly 2000 years, we shudder and pray and grind our teeth. As we watch the burning of Churches, the defacing of icons, the destruction of shrines, even that of the Holy Prophet Jonah we…
Continue reading »Steatite Icons and Material Symbolism
One of the points many OAJ contributors have been trying to bring across is that the medium out of which sacred art is made and the artful human act of fabrication are important on a symbolic and theological level. This question of materiality and production have become crucial ones in our age of mechanical reproduction…
Continue reading »What is missing from Aronofsky’s Noah
In many of my past articles I have explored the symbolism of death and how it is related in the Bible and by our Tradition to the arts and technology, to hybridity and the foreigner, the serpent, to the cave, to Cain, to animality and to periphery in general. Aranofsky’s recent Noah movie deals intently with many…
Continue reading »Is “Write” Wrong?: A Discussion of Iconology Lingo
This is post 1 of 3 in the series “To Write or to Paint an Icon” Several contributors go over the common debate on whether one “writes” or “paints” an icon. Is “Write” Wrong?: A Discussion of Iconology Lingo A Symptom of Modern Blindness – Further Thoughts on the Phrase “To Write an Icon” From…
Continue reading »Degraded Iconicity VI: Towards Fullness of Iconicity
This is post 6 of 6 in the series “Degraded Iconicity” Fr. Silouan Justiniano thinks through the effect of contemporary image culture and mechanical reproduction on iconography and our sense of the sacred. The Degraded Iconicity of the Icon: The Icon’s Materiality and Mechanical Reproduction Degraded Iconicity II: Uplifting Materiality and Symbol. Degraded Iconicity III:…
Continue reading »Degraded Iconicity V: Subtle Docetism; Approach to Materials
This is post 5 of 6 in the series “Degraded Iconicity” Fr. Silouan Justiniano thinks through the effect of contemporary image culture and mechanical reproduction on iconography and our sense of the sacred. The Degraded Iconicity of the Icon: The Icon’s Materiality and Mechanical Reproduction Degraded Iconicity II: Uplifting Materiality and Symbol. Degraded Iconicity III:…
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