Monastery Icons and the Icon in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Over the years it has been my desire to visit the Holy Land. In reading books on iconography, I have frequently seen icons found in the Holy Land such as Our Lady of Jerusalem, Our Lady of Bethlehem and others. And seeing the photos of the altar at the place of Christ’s birth, and the icon over that altar rekindled that desire.

I recently watched a YouTube video of the creation of an icon based on that same icon produced by Monastery Icons. I found this fascinating. Choosing a wide array of elements of icons in the same iconographic style, the painter created a harmonious depiction of the events of the Nativity in a wide format icon which is both traditional and unique. And the central figures of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph in adoration in the cave of the nativity matches closely with the original. (See the video below from Monastery Icons for a time-lapsed video of the conceptualization and painting of the icon.)

Seeing this video clinched it. I recently made the long-desired pilgrimage to the sites of Our Lord’s life, death and resurrection in Israel. And I visited the ancient church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, venerated the icon of Our Lady of Bethlehem to the right of the sanctuary in the main church, then descended into the cave of the Nativity and bowed below the altar in the cave and touched the ornate star in the marble floor at the spot where the Lord was born.

To my surprise, the icon over the altar was different than the one I had seen in previous photos. I was to discover that the icons placed over the altar were not permanent, but were changed from time to time.

The Liturgy in the Nativity cave was an experience not to be forgotten. The small cave could hold only several dozen people, creating an intimacy of worshippers and pilgrims who had travelled the world to visit this holy site.

I visited many other places during my pilgrimage, including the Monastery of Saint George in the Valley of the Shadow of Death (!) over an hour into the desert from Jerusalem, the Monastery of Mar Saba, the Monastery of Saint Gerasimos, and of course the churches in Jerusalem, including the all-holy Church of the Resurrection, where the site of Golgatha and the Tomb of our Lord are located. But that is another story.

I highly recommend the icon of the Nativity by Monastery Icons shown in their video. And I highly recommend visiting the Holy Land and experiencing first-hand the wonders  to be found there.

Beauty and the Bigots

I have seen on the web, and have found from my own experience, that people can be very bigoted when it comes to icons. If an icon is not produced by their particular church or jurisdiction, or according to their own tastes, they can be very dogmatic and exclusive. I had originally intended on writing, or rather complaining in print, about such narrowness, but in retrospect decided that I would be morphing into the type of grouch that they seem to sometimes be.

Rather, I thought, why not dwell on the beauty of icons, and the uplifting thoughts they inspire, rather than become a bigot in reverse? So here goes.

This icon "The Virgin of Tenderness," was a favorite of St. Seraphim of Sarov.

One of the glories of iconography is its diversity: diversity in tradition, in style, and in artistic expression. While there are common factors, anyone who has studied iconography can see that there is such a wide variety of iconographic expression, and anyone with an open mind can learn to appreciate such a broad spectrum of beauty. When looking at a rainbow, do we grouse at the the blues and the greens, and say that only the reds and yellows have beauty?

Granted, some iconographic forms better express theological concepts, and some artists are better equipped to depict with beauty the celestial subjects they portray. And there are other forms loosely called “sacred art” which fail entirely at these objectives. A wise observer will know the difference.

Each individual will, of course, have his preferences in style. For instance, I prefer the iconographic styles of the east rather than most Western religious art. I prefer Greek iconography to Russian. And I prefer the icons and frescoes from the 16th century, the “Cretan” style as found in the Monasteries of Mt. Athos, more than other eras of iconography. Yet my preferences do not keep me from appreciating other expressions of sacred art, nor do they dictate what is the best or most correct.

An example of a style which was poorly received in its time is the icon of “The Virgin of Tenderness” (available from Talaria Enterprises), as seen above, which St. Seraphim of Sarov had a copy of in his monastic cell. This style was seen as a departure from iconographic norms, was too fleshly, too sentimental for the times. But today there are reproductions of this icon in monasteries, churches, and homes throughout Russia, as well as monasteries, churches, and homes throughout the Christian world. Because of a willingness to appreciate new forms of beauty our pallette of iconographic styles is enlarged, even while acknowledging the more strict forms as being better suited to expressing a certain celestial and unearthly quality of the holy subjects depicted.

So may each of us be eager to appreciate the beauty of icons, in whatever form they may come, and not become bigoted and  narrow minded in our approach to these holy icons.

 

Monastery Icons Posts YouTube Video on Painting Icons

Monastery Icons, the online catalog icon company (MonasteryIcons.com) has posted their time-lapsed video about how an icon is painted on YouTube. It shows how an icon is painted, from conception to completion. It is fascinating to see an icon come alive, from the sketch, to underlying layers, to the finishing layers and fine details.

The Icons of the Monastery of St. Catherine of Sinai

In March of 2007 I had the good fortune of visiting the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to visit the exhibit, “Holy Image/Hallowed Ground: Icons from Sinai.” This was a collection of icons on loan from the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai. Saint Catherine’s Monastery is the oldest continually inhabited Christian monastery in the world. Because of this and because of its isolated location, it has been somewhat immune from the ravages of persecution, the monastery’s collection of icons is one of the largest and oldest in Christendom. Diane Apostolos-Cappadona of Artcyclopedia gives a brief history of the monastery:

Formally established in the 6th century, the Holy Monastery of Saint Catherine exists at a site sacred to the three monotheistic traditions of the West. According to the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses’ encounter with the Burning Bush was here and continues to take root under the altar in the crypt. On the top of Mount Sinai where today pilgrims and hikers stand to watch the sun rise, Moses received the Ten Commandments. Saint Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, visited this place favored by desert hermits in 337. The Emperor Justinian supported the building of the formal monastery buildings, including the original Church of the Transfiguration, between 527-65. According to tradition, Muhammad visited the monastery and was given sanctuary; in turn he granted protection to the monastery complex and the monks – an “order of protection” secured in a written document and honored from 640.

It fascinated me as I entered the exhibit hall to view icons that I had seen in icon books for decades. The first icon to greet me was the renowned icon of Saint Peter, an encausitic icon painted in the sixth century. Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, the type of painting used in the Fayum mummy portraits in the earliest years of the Christian era, involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added. The liquid/paste is then applied to the prepared panel. I was surprised to see that the icon was so large (36.6 inches x 20.9 inches). The style of this St. Catherine’s Monastery’s icon is similar to the consular diptychs of the Roman Empire in his carrying the cross-staff (scepter and keys (like a consular mappa). Three clipea at top echo consular triad of emperor, empress and co-consul. The figures above in this icon of St. Peter are St. Menas, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary. For more analysis of the icons from the monastery’s collection, visit this site.

Anyone who has visited a church or museum and seen original icons knows that prints, or even photos, of these icons cannot reproduce the colors, details, and subtlety of the original iconography. As I walked through the several rooms at the museum dedicated to the icons of the monastery, I was in awe. Not only were they exquisite from an artistic and historical viewpoint, the icons exuded a spiritual radiance, not only because of the holy subject matter, but also because of the honor the icons had received through the centuries, and the prayers which had been said before them in the spiritually dynamic monastery atmosphere.

The collection of icons from the monastery at the Getty exhibit represented the more famous of the monastery’s icons, but the true extent of the monastery’s collection is unknown, except to the supervising monks of the monastery, and perhaps a few priviledged art historians and scholars, the Getty staff among them. Some say the icons number over 2,000, large and small, some unique masterpieces while others are simple works of art.

The Getty exhibit was a win-win-win situation. Obviously the museum benefited financially and in prestige by hosting the icon exhibit. The monastery gained support for its foundation, and its icons were cleaned and well taken care of by the museum. And the public had a unique oportunity to view such a wonderful collection of icons which otherwise they would never perhaps have heard of.

I left the icon exhibit feeling educated, blessed and fulfilled. And I was left with a desire to visit not only St. Catherine’s Monastery to see more of it’s holy icons, frescoes, and illuminations, but to be in the sacred atmosphere which has been built and expanded by centuries of prayers and monastic life. Many thanks to the Getty Museum for having sponsored the wonderful collection of icons from the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Sinai.