Icons**, Frescoes and Mosaics on the Internet
from
Constantinople to Macedonia to Russia, and around the world.
The Purpose of the site is to enable the visitor
to
(re
)discover and
experience the
Beauty and Meaning of Byzantine
Icons.
Getting-Started - For
best results, I recommend that you read the brief, 6-point outline on this
page, starting with 'Introduction' six lines further down. Note, for example,
that the site is organized in six chapters, and that there now are two menus
you can use to select a subject: the (detailed) menu
in the six
gold-colored boxes above, and the (simple) menu
'Getting-Started2' further down.
Byzantine
* Icons
** are the
sacred, visual and spiritual treasures of the
Eastern Orthodox Church. They are an integral part of the
Orthodox Christian Faith. Many also are a visible sign of the great devotion
and love of the Orthodox faithful for the
Virgin Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God.
-------------------------------
* 'Byzantine' refers to the
Byzantine
Empire, for it was
during its reign that icons became
established.
** Never heard of Byzantine
Icons before? Then you
want to read
What are Byzantine Icons?
Continue to
'Medieval'... (below blue-lined section)
Main text continues here...
Click this line to
return Two major pages, or
imagebases, are at the core of this site: Medieval Byzantine Icons and
Contemporary Byzantine Icons.
Additional
pages highlight one or more different pertinent aspects. Collectively, they
explain Traditional Byzantine Icons and the Sacred Art of Icon Painting in the
context of the Orthodox Christian Faith and Historical Events.
All information combined is classified into
six (6) chapters. The chapter names appear in the gold-colored menu boxes
above.
The Medieval Byzantine Icons page is
one of the most visited pages of the site. It houses links to some 4000 ancient
and medieval Byzantine Icons, Frescoes and Mosaics. You will be seeing world
famous, ancient icons and mosaics, of
Christ Pantokrator and the
Virgin of Vladimir for example. Some of these
were painted by world renowned Greek and Russian Masters, like
Theophanes the Greek and
Andrei Rublev.
A separate section is devoted to
Frescoes & Mosaics. This allows visitors access to
most of the Frescoes & Mosaics websites published on the Internet to date,
from one single location.
Click link to
Familiarize yourself with the
site
Or
The Contemporary Icons page or
Icon Painters' Index is another popular page. It allows
you to visit well over 7000 icons, written by close to 400 living icon painters
(iconographers) including several Masters of our time. Many of the icons are
every which way as beautiful as their ancient counterparts. And the message is
the same as that of 2000 years ago.
In this chapter you will find all subjects
not mentioned before, like the Deisis and the Iconostasis, the most common Icon
Types, the Lives of Saints, Understanding Icons, Icon Masters and Icon Schools,
and How to Paint Icons.
The page
also provides access to the various Icon Galleries, including the (new)
Icon-Gallery-Imagebase.
Click to see a
Slideshow of The Great Feasts
General References are proposed to aid
better understanding Byzantine Icons and to help placing the Sacred Art of Icon
Painting in the appropriate historical and religious context.
You like history? No empire has been in
power longer than the Byzantine Empire. You can read up on it by visiting the
references on
Byzantium and the
Byzantine Empire. Or read up on Eastern
Orthodoxy, the History of Icons and Mosaics, Iconoclasm...
In the Miscellaneous Pages you will find useful services,
including: Bibliography, Music (see box to the right), and more.
and
And a
to those among you for
your help in showing this magnificent - to the delight of us all !
* The four Byzantine Art
pillars of this site : (1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
May the Beauty of
Byzantine Icons nourish your Heart and Soul !