July 7, 2021 Why Do Some Icons of Pentecost Depict the Mother of God, while Others Don’t? In Early Christianity, the Ascension of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit were celebrated on the same day, ending the Easter weeks….
May 18, 2021 Why Is Christ Shown Holding a Banner in the Icons of His Resurrection and Descent into Hades? Listen to the article In many Orthodox depictions of the Resurrection of our Lord, Christ is shown holding a banner. This way of showing…
May 13, 2021 Within a Mandorla There is a small class of events within the gospels that are treated in a special manner by iconographers. This special treatment reflects the…
May 7, 2021 The Place of the Theotokos in Icons of the Resurrection There are three general representations of the Resurrection in Orthodoxy: the Harrowing of Hades, Christ triumphantly rising from the tomb, and the angel appearing to the…
May 4, 2021 A Very Detailed Resurrection Icon We have seen Resurrection icons here previously, but today we will look at a rather remarkable example, extraordinary in its detail and the number…
April 8, 2021 Interesting Facts about the Moscow and Kiev Images of the Annunciation The iconography of the Annunciation is based on St Luke’s description of the Archangel Gabriel appearing to the Virgin Mary and announcing the future…
March 25, 2021 The Image of the Mother of God “Graced of Heaven”. History and Miracles The image of the Mother of God “Graced of Heaven” belongs to the so-called akathist type and is quite rare and unusual. The iconography…
March 18, 2021 The Crucified Monk: Icon of the Monastic Life Around the entrance of refectories in Orthodox monasteries, there can sometimes be seen a shocking image of a monk being crucified. The unnamed monk…
February 8, 2021 What Are the Two-sided Icons? Everyone will agree that the reverse side of an icon is not often seen in a church. Whether standing in the iconostasis, along the…
February 5, 2021 History and Special Aspects of Hagiography Icons in Brief Hagiography icons depict a saint (in the centrepiece), surrounded by the so-called marginal scenes – individual compositions reflecting the life, deeds and miracles of…
January 20, 2021 Deesis — an Inspiration for Prayer Deesis (δέησις) is a Greek word that translates as “prayer” or “supplication”. It refers mainly to the traditional iconic representation of Christ flanked by…
January 16, 2021 5 Amazing Nativity Icons Selected by Dmitry Trofimov, Head of the Tsargrad Creative Workshops Mosaic composition in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo The mosaic composition in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo is…
