Opus Sectile Icons

There is a relatively famous image of St. Eudocia from the 10th or 11th century from Constantinople that has recently caught my attention.  It is done in a technique called Opus Sectile.  Unlike Mosaic which is the assembly of similarly shaped squares forming a pattern, Opus Sectile is when stone is cut in different shapes…

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The Mystery of Ethiopian Iconography

Ethiopian Christianity presents many mysteries to us, their unique use of Old Testament typology, their concentric churches, their claim of having the Ark of the Covenent and its use in liturgy – these all create an obscure but fascinating question.  I went to Ethiopia in 2009 to discover more about their liturgical arts.  I would…

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OAJ at Work

I would like to draw the readers’ attention to this video. It features OAJ contributor and icon carver Jonathan Pageau in action, and some of his finished works. The Gospel cover and the pectoral crosses were collaborative efforts with OAJ founder, Andrew Gould. The music is Psalm 103, Valaam Chant, by the St. Tikhon’s Mission…

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Towards Indigenous and Mature Liturgical Arts

We often hear it said that traditional Orthodox liturgical arts are reviving. But how far advanced is this revival, how mature is it, and what in fact are we reviving? In this article I would like to stimulate discussion by briefly considering three related subjects: indigenous iconography, maturity, and features of a healthy climate that…

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Embroidery for the Modern Church

In 1995, a small unused room in the Icon Painting School at the Moscow Orthodox Theological Academy was converted into a studio for a single student interested in the lost art of church embroidery. This became the Pictorial Embroidery Department of the Icon Painting School housed in a larger facility within the famous Trinity-St. Sergius…

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A Carver’s Commission

  At the beginning of this story is my bishop, fittingly also the man who received me into the Orthodox Church when he was still a parish priest.  He asked me if I could carve an “engolpion” – a large pendant worn by bishops, usually bearing an icon of  The Virgin and Child. He asked…

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Liturgical Arts and the Eye of the Heart

Beauty cannot compel, but it can call. Liturgical art and worship, when well executed, is a fragrance of paradise that beckons us to find its divine source. In this article I want to discuss one particular role of liturgical art: to help open the eye of our heart, or the nous as it is called…

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The Holy Ascension Choros

  The Holy Ascension choros, which was completed Pascha 2012, has been a project eight years in the making. In 2004, my wife and I were on our way to Charleston, SC for my first job out of architecture school – to design Holy Ascension Orthodox church. On our way, we stopped in New York…

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