The Mystical Language of Icons

This lavishly illustrated guide to iconography explains through words and pictures the history, meaning, and purpose of Christian icons as well as the traditional methods that religious painters use to create these luminous, spiritually enlivened works of art. 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. Deeply inspiring and utterly unique, The Mystical Language of Icons will inform both those who are familiar with the rich tradition of religious art and those who are not. It also serves as a powerful devotional resource in its own right, one that Christians everywhere can turn to again and again. Book jacket.

Catalogues the heritage of images according to type and subject, from the ancient at the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai to those from Greece, Constantinople, and Russia. This book includes chapters such as role of icons in the Orthodox liturgy and on common iconic subjects, including the fathers and saints of the Eastern Church.

The classic work on the techniques, language and interpretation of icons in the context of theology and faith. Commentary and analysis of the main types of icons. Lavishly illustrated, with 160 pages of text with drawings, 13 b/w and 51 color plates.

Focusing on the classic methods of icon painting and its rich history, this detailed and practical guide covers everything, from the materials needed and how to prepare a panel to adding inscriptions and finishing off using traditional Byzantine techniques. It explains the origins and principles of icon painting; how to choose a subject; the technique of sacred geometry; the use of color, varnishing, and egg tempera; and how to use traditional gilding techniques. Part of the icon's symbolism is transmitted in the techniques used to create it and this is explored throughout. With in-depth information, step-by-step demonstrations, invaluable advice, and many superb examples of finished icons, this is the most comprehensive guide to the philosophy and practice of icon painting.

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.

There is perhaps no greater constant in religious intuition and experience than the presence of light. In spiritual traditions East and West, light is not only ubiquitous but something that assumes strikingly similar forms in altogether different historical and cultural settings. This study examines light as an aspect of religiously valued experiences and its entailments for mystical theology, philosophy, politics, and religious art. The essays in this volume make an important contribution to religious studies by proposing that it is misleading to conceive of religious experience in terms of an irreconcilable dichotomy between universality and cultural construction. An esteemed group of contributors, representing the study of Asian and Western religious traditions from a range of disciplinary perspectives, suggests that attention to various forms of divine radiance shows that there is indeed a range of principles that, if not universal, are nevertheless very widely occurring and amenable to fruitful comparative inquiry. What results is a work of enormous scope, demonstrating compelling cross-connections that will be of value to scholars of comparative religions, mysticism, and the relationship between art and the sacred. Contributors: * Catherine B. Asher * Raoul Birnbaum * Sarah Iles Johnston * Matthew T. Kapstein * Andrew Louth * Paul E. Muller-Ortega * Elliot R. Wolfson * Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan * Hossein Ziai

Linette Martin's style and simplicity of language are transparent and clear, so rare in other similar writings on the topic. -Metropolitan Emilianos Timiadis

"Today's search for spirituality and authenticity leads ultimately to the question, and the experience, of God. In this profound meditation from one of today's most renowned religious voices, theologian Raimon Panikkar offers a way to reflect on the perennial quest for God, its significance in many religious traditions, and its connection to our own deepest purpose and meaning. .... " [from back cover]

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.

A fascinating novel of art theft, family intrigue, and an ancient religious artifact that possesses untold power When Matthew Spear, a young curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, meets the lovely Ana Kessler, an art dealer who has inherited an impressive group of pieces, he discovers a prize: the collection includes the Holy Mother of Katarini—a sacred icon long thought destroyed. But while Matthew recognizes the Icon’s value as a work of art, he also discovers that it may carry a far greater significance. Soon Matthew discovers that he has a strange and more personal connection to the Icon—one that thrusts him into a Byzantine web of death and deception. All involved believe the Icon to be a source of fantastic and inexplicable power, and all were somehow connected to the events that transpired during World War II. As he experiences the peculiar resonance of Icon, Matthew begins to see that the only way out of his entanglement is to discover what really happened in the past. Before he walks into the harrowing situation that will decide who lives and who dies, Matthew will be forced to re-examine virtually every aspect of his life—the loyalties within his family, his feelings for Ana, and even the question of his own faith. In a stunning debut that spans more than half a century and two continents, The Icon asks us to reach into the very heart of all our questions about faith, power, and love.

All the World an Icon is the fourth book in an informal "quartet" of works by Tom Cheetham on the spirituality of Henry Corbin, a major twentieth-century scholar of Sufism and colleague of C. G. Jung, whose influence on contemporary religion and the humanities is beginning to become clear. Cheetham's books have helped spark a renewed interest in the work of this important, creative religious thinker. Henry Corbin (1903-1978) was professor of Islamic religion at the Sorbonne in Paris and director of the department of Iranic studies at the Institut Franco-Iranien in Teheran. His wide-ranging work includes the first translations of Heidegger into French, studies in Swedenborg and Boehme, writings on the Grail and angelology, and definitive translations of Persian Islamic and Sufi texts. He introduced such seminal terms as "the imaginal realm" and "theophany" into Western thought, and his use of the Shi'ite idea of ta'wil or "spiritual interpretation" influenced psychologist James Hillman and the literary critic Harold Bloom. His books were read by a broad range of poets including Charles Olson and Robert Duncan, and his impact on American poetry, says Cheetham, has yet to be fully appreciated. His published titles in English include Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, and The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism. As the religions of the Book place the divine Word at the center of creation, the importance of hermaneutics, the theory and practice of interpretation, cannot be overstated. In the theology and spirituality of Henry Corbin, the mystical heart of this tradition is to be found in the creative, active imagination; the alchemy of spiritual development is best understood as a story of the soul's search for the Lost Speech. Cheetham eloquently demonstrates Corbin's view that the living interpretation of texts, whether divine or human—or, indeed, of the world itself seen as the Text of Creation—is the primary task of spiritual life. In his first three books on Corbin, Cheetham explores different aspects of Corbin's work, but has saved for this book his final analysis of what Corbin meant by the Arabic term ta'wil—perhaps the most important concept in his entire oeuvre. "Any consideration of how Corbin's ideas were adapted by others has to begin with a clear idea of what Corbin himself intended," writes Cheetham; "his own intellectual and spiritual cosmos is already highly complex and eclectic and a knowledge of his particular philosophical project is crucial for understanding the range and implications of his work." Cheetham lays out the implications of ta'wil as well as the use of language as integral part of any artistic or spiritual practice, with the view that the creative imagination is a fundamentally linguistic phenomenon for the Abrahamic religions, and, as Corbin tells us, prayer is the supreme form of creative imagination.

Icon painting has reached its zenith in Ukraine between the 11th and 18th centuries. This art is appealing because of its great openness to other influences – the obedience to the rules of Orthodox Christianity in its early stages, the borrowing from Roman heritage or later to the Western breakthroughs – combined with a never compromised assertion of a distinctly Slavic soul and identity. This book presents a handpicked and representative selection of works from the 11th century to the late Baroque period.

This volume examines characters in the Fourth Gospel and provides an in-depth look at different approaches currently employed by scholars working with literary and reader-oriented methods. Divided into two sections, the book first considers method and theory, followed by exegetical character studies using a literary or reader-oriented method. It summarizes the state of the discussion, examines obstacles to arriving at a comprehensive theory of character in the Fourth Gospel, compares different approaches, and compiles the diverse methodologies into one comparative study. Through this detailed exegesis, the various theories will come alive, and the merits (or deficiencies) of each approach will be available to the reader. This volume is both a comprehensive study in narrative/reader-oriented theories, and a study in the application of those theories as they apply to characterization. Summing up current research on characters and characterization in the Fourth Gospel, this book also provides a comprehensive presentation of different approaches to character that have developed in recent years.

A distinguished religious artist explores the beauty and truth found in icons of Christ's transfiguration, weaving together iconographic representations and theological interpretation.

Icon and Devotion offers the first extensive presentation in English of the making and meaning of Russian icons. The craft of icon-making is set into the context of forms of worship that emerged in the Russian Orthodox Church in the mid-seventeenth century. Oleg Tarasov shows how icons have held a special place in Russian consciousness because they represented idealized images of Holy Russia. He also looks closely at how and why icons were made. Wonder-working saints and the leaders of such religious schisms as the Old Believers appear in these pages, which are illustrated with miniature paintings, lithographs and engravings never before published in the English-speaking world. By tracing the artistic vocabulary, techniques and working methods of icon painters, Tarasov shows how icons have been integral to the history of Russian art, influenced by folk and mainstream currents alike. As well as articulating the specifically Russian piety they invoke, he analyzes the significance of icons in the cultural life of modern Russia in the context of popular prints and poster design.

Internationally acclaimed iconographer Joseph Malham takes you through an eight-day, self-guided contemplative retreat to create your own icon of the Christ Pantocrator (Ruler of All). For 1500 years, icons have helped Christians meditate and pray. Used in homes and public worship, these symbolic images represent the presence of Christ and the saints. Malham has been practicing and teaching iconography for twenty years, encouraging ordinary people to create their own icons and be transformed by the spiritual practice. In Drawing Closer to Christ, he invites people of all levels of artistic talent to the contemplative experience of creating a sacred image. Using the ancient icon Christ Pantocrator as your pattern, you will learn how to enter into the process of tracing the icon into the wood, applying gold leafing to the halo around Christ's head, and blending the paint to create beautiful colours that radiate holiness. Malham provides a list of supplies needed for each stage and step-by-step directions with detailed photographs. The first seven days of the retreat follow the rhythm of the Genesis account of creation. On the eight day, you'll learn that while the finished icon represents the personality of the artist, it is still Christ.