About Icons

Welcome to the web gallery of Orthodox Icons & Frescoes,  handpainted  by Iconographer Teofana Zaric.

Please use my contact page for your comments, questions and orders.

 

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 Theotokos and Child by Teofana Zaric

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Art of Spiritual Service

The content of Orthodox Iconography has been determined directly by the needs and the profounder spiritual purpose of the Church. It serves to inspire, teach, guide, and encourage the faithful in their quest towards spiritual perfection. Iconography expresses holiness and the more sublime meanings of Orthodoxy in its sacred content : the Savior, the Theotokos, the Apostles, the Angelic Powers, and the Martyrs of the Faith.

Art of High Theology

This art is not simply religious as in the West, but theological. Its themes are not simply related to religious history, but are organized according to the high Theology of the Orthodox Church. As such, Orthodox Churches are filled with not simply images of the passion, but with art depicting the life of our Lord (the twelve great feasts of the Church); the Theotokos; the Saints, the Evangelists; and the angelic powers; all under the blessings of the Lord. Additionally, those depicted are "represented" in a manner that suggests their true nature : in communion with the saints, earthly, or deprived of the Spirit of Grace.

An Art of Depth

Orthodox iconography is an expressionistic art form that seeks to convey a profounder life-experience that possesses the soul. Byzantine art therefore uses intense animated features (i.e. big eyes, small mouths, large ears), bright colors, and postures (i.e. frontal posture of saints who are in direct communion with God) to suggest the true "spirit" of the one depicted. Differences between the sacred art of the West and the East are illustrated in both the icons of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection....                     By Timothy Ware

 
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