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The issue of icons of “God the Father”, also known as the “Lord of Sabaoth” has been a source of contention for some time within the Orthodox Church.  We know that the 7th Ecumenical Council did not include portrayals of God the Father in its list of subjects authorized to be portrayed iconographically, but also did not specifically forbid such icons.

“We decree with full precision and care that, like the figure of the honored and life-giving cross, the revered and holy images, whether painted or made of mosaic or of other suitable material, are to be exposed in the holy churches of God, on sacred instruments and vestments, on walls and panels, in houses and by public ways; these are the images of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, and of Our Lady without blemish, the holy God-bearer, and of the revered angels, and of any of the saintly holy men.”

— Second Council of Nicaea (Seventh Ecumenical Council) – 787 A.D.

That said, there is at least one strong theological reason to resist the temptation to portray God the Father in human form… If Christ is the “Image of the Invisible God” and His Incarnation was the creation of an image (“icon”) of God, the portraying of God the Father in human form confuses the theology of the Incarnation, which is the entire underpinning of the role of Iconography in the Church to begin with.

On the other hand, icons of “God the Father” in human form are very ancient within the Church, with extant examples dating from just after the Great Schism of 1054 (possibly even earlier).  Many people claim to have been inspired by these images of the Father. Can the Church really condemn icons that inspire the faithful?  Furthermore, since such icons gained such widespread popularity in the period before the revolution (in Russia, at least), isn’t condemning this natural development in iconography similar to the persecutions of the Old Believer traditions of the 16th century?

This poll is an opportunity to understand the opinion of the Orthodox faithful on this often inflammatory issue.

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Our goal at Damascene Gallery is to provide high quality traditional Orthodox icons, whether they be authentic Antique Icons, beautiful new hand painted icons or our High Quality Mounted Icons.  In fact, it was our experience with Antique Icons that spawned the idea for our High Quality Series of mounted icons.   Those who have held or venerated a beautiful Antique Icon understand that such icons have a presence about them that is difficult to put into words… there is a beauty in ancient icons, a beauty which is, of course, bound up with the other-worldliness of Orthodox religious painting, but this beauty is also related to the materials and methods that the painters of traditional icons used.

The boards used in Antique Icons were solid wood boards, typically chosen from the best materials available.  If a large icon was to be painted, it was constructed from a number of solid wood boards glued together with all grains in the same direction.  Because solid wood has a tendency to warp or curve over time, icon panels had hardwood slats inserted into the reverse of the panels with the grain of the slats being perpendicular to that of the main icon panel itself.

As a result, antique icons are usually quite heavy, and when one holds such an icon in one’s hands, it is immediately apparent that this is a sacred object, a window to the Divine.  Many modern iconographers, following in the footsteps of their predecessors, are currently using panels identical in design to those used in Antique Icons and, in particular, the use of such panels is experiencing a significant resurgence in Russian Iconography.

The obvious question, then, is what, if any, impact all of this should have on the modern day Orthodox Church, in which by far the majority of icons owned and venerated privately are in fact, not hand painted icons, but are mounted icons, consisting of a printed image affixed to a wooden panel of some sort.  The majority of mounted icons available today are mounted to relatively thin panels (by comparison to those typically used in antiquity) and are in fact usually mounted to plywood.  Support slats are not added.  These mounted icons have provided a great service to the Orthodox Church in that they have made images of our Orthodox saints nearly universally available.

In considering all of this, we at Damascene Gallery realized that, in addition to providing beautiful Antique and Newly Painted Icons, perhaps it would make sense to also offer a new type of mounted icon, a type of mounted icon that closely resembles the look and feel of traditional icons painted on traditional boards with solid wood slats.  We began by creating several prototypes consisting of ultra high quality giclee prints on canvas mounted to traditional boards and we were shocked by the beauty of the product.  The resulting icons have a richness and depth from the canvas giclee prints that resembles that of fine art paintings, which use such canvases as their preferred medium.  Additionally, the use of greater-than-one-inch-thick (>1″) solid wood panels with support slats restores the “presence” one perceives when handling an Antique Icon.  In short, we are so pleased with the result that we added all necessary equipment required to produce larger quantities of such icons to our woodworking shop and decided to add the High Quality series to our offerings on the Damascene Gallery storefront.

To begin with, we have partnered with the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY and plan to work with them for the foreseeable future to provide the beautiful iconography of the Jordanville School on our High Quality panels.  In addition to this, we are working to launch our own “Damascus Series” icons, which will be fully online several weeks after the launch of the store.  The “Damascus Series” will consist of prints of most of our beautiful Antique Icon inventory, as well as most well-known icons of spiritual and historical significance within the Orthodox Church.

In addition to the sizes listed for our mounted icons on the storefront, most of our images, from both the Holy Trinity Monastery series and the Damascus Series, are available in ultra-large format.  If you are interested in a large-format Damascene Gallery mounted icon, please contact us.  Also, please contact us if there is an icon you would like mounted using our process that is not immediately available on the store… the chances are that we already have the icon and are working to add it to our Damascus Series anyway.  Your request will prompt us to move it to the top of the list!

We hope you will find our High Quality Mounted Icons to be as beautiful as we do.  We have no doubt that, if you are a lover of icons, you will absolutely love our offerings.  We invite you to give us a chance to share our products with you!

In Christ God, the Divine Word Made Flesh,

Priest Jonah Campbell
Co-founder, Damascene Gallery

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In the modern-day Orthodox Church, by far the majority of icons in both private homes and Churches are mounted icons, printed images affixed to wood. Despite the ever-increasing number of talented iconographers we have in the Church today, most people simply cannot afford to buy hand-painted icons, especially when the prices are compared to printed versions of the same image. Where does this leave the hand-painted icons made in centuries past, which are usually even more expensive than new hand-painted icons?

The reality is that many Antique Icons on the market today are bought by collectors… collectors who have a deep appreciation for such icons and often own many beautiful Antique Icons. Such collectors devote many, many years to learning about the various aspects of Antique Icons (school of painting, age, provenance, etc) and come to a point where they can easily determine the approximate age of an icon, the icon “school”, etc by simply glancing at an image. Collectors are also acutely aware that Antique Icons steadily increase in value over time… a collection that cost several thousands of dollars to build may now be worth millions of dollars.

By contrast, within the Orthodox Church, such icons are seldom discussed except by experts and iconographers. Antique icons are commonly venerated by the faithful in Churches who then move on to the many other icons that may be present within the Church without thinking much about the history of the holy image that was just venerated (unless it happens to be a wonderworking “Antique Icon”, such as the “Kursk Root” icon of the Mother of God). Many of the faithful do not know the basics of style and “school” as relate to antique icons, oftentimes preferring “custom” hand-painted icons to antique icons.

The question thus arises: Why should antique icons have a significant role in the modern-day Orthodox Church?

In short, we feel that the role of antique icons is related to the fact that they, like Orthodox Christianity itself, have seen many ages of human history come and go. Some of the earliest icons existing to the modern day were painted in the first centuries of Christianity, such as the paintings found in the Catacombs and many images cherished at St. Catherine’s monastery on Mt. Sinai. Regardless of whether a given icon is 1500 years old or 150 years old, antique icons have almost all been prayed in front of for generations… prayed in front of by mother’s whose children were fighting in wars (such as the “Patriotic War of 1812″ in Russia), prayed in front of by priests for their flocks. Antique icons are infused with prayer and the tragedy of the situation is that many such icons sit on the shelves of antique stores, perhaps right next to antique cigarette cases or busts of “Lenin”, collecting dust and being ignored.

When such icons are sold to collectors, they are being sold to individuals who appreciate their antiquity and will treat them with respect. Most such collectors are believers who are inspired by such icons to turn their thoughts heavenward when gazing upon them. By contrast, however, when icons simply sit collecting dust, these antique icons, which served as an inspiration to the faithful for generations, are no longer objects of veneration, they are objects of neglect.

Thus, it is our desire to provide beautiful antique icons to those who will be inspired by them, to those who will venerate them and will appreciate the significance of the images they are acquiring. These icons are not new: they are seasoned by the faith and piety of countless Orthodox faithful who have petitioned the saints depicted on them for assistance with the many struggles in their lives for generations. By acquiring such images, venerating them and praying before them, we join ourselves to this chorus of the faithful from years past and ensure that such a holy history will not end with these images being thrown into boxes and ignored.

It is not only our desire to provide such beautiful antique icons: it is our desire to make such icons affordable so that each of the faithful will one day be able to have one or more antique icons in their icon corners, with the flame of piety drawing them to join themselves to those who have come before in their devotion to Christ and the life of repentance.

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We have been preparing to bring Damascene Gallery online for some time, and, from the very beginning, we wanted this entire endeavor to be God-pleasing, so, when choosing when to launch, we looked at the calendar for late August to determine which day would be the “right” day to open our online store.  When we saw the feast of the Translation of the Icon “Not Made By Hands” from Edessa to Constantinople in late August (August 16th/29th), we immediately knew that we should coincide our launch with the celebration of this original icon of the Saviour’s Most Holy Visage.

The Prologue of Ochrid says the following concerning this holy image:

“At the time when our Lord preached the Good News and healed every illness and infirmity of men, there lived in the city of Edessa on the shore of the Euphrates Prince Abgar who was completely infected with leprosy. He heard of Christ, the Healer of every pain and disease and sent an artist, Ananias, to Palestine with a letter to Christ in which he begged the Lord to come to Edessa and to cure him of leprosy. In the event that the Lord was unable to come, the prince ordered Ananias to portray His likeness and to bring it to him, believing that this likeness would be able to restore his health. The Lord answered that He was unable to come, for the time of His passion was approaching and so He took a towel, wiped His face and, on the towel, His All-pure face was perfectly pictured. The Lord gave this towel to Ananias with the message that the prince will be healed by it, but not entirely, and later on, He would send him a messenger who would erase the remainder of his disease. Receiving the towel, Prince Abgar kissed it and the leprosy completely fell from his body but a little of it remained on his face. Later, the Apostle Thaddaeus, preaching the Gospel, came to Abgar and secretly healed and baptized him. The prince then destroyed the idols which stood before the gates of the city and above the gates he placed the towel with the likeness of Christ attached to wood, framed in a gold frame and adorned with pearls. Also, the prince wrote beneath the icon on the gates: “O Christ God, no one will be ashamed who hopes in You.” Later, one of Abgar’s great grandsons restored idolatry and the bishop of Edessa came by night and walled up that icon over the gates. Centuries have passed since then. During the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Persian King Chozroes attacked Edessa and the city was in great hardship. It happened that Eulabius, the Bishop of Edessa, had a vision of the All-Holy Theotokos who revealed to him the mystery of the sealed wall and the forgotten icon. The icon was discovered and, by its power, the Persian army was defeated. (Prologue of Ochrid, August 16th/29th).”

The icon “Not Made By Hands” shown above is a very early Russian example of this Holy Icon painted in Kiev in the 12th century and kept today in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.  In style and iconographic approach, this icon has many similarities to the very famous “Golden Haired Angel” also painted in Kiev at around the same time.

Both of these Holy Images feature very detailed portrayals of the faces, which are gazing in serenity and other-worldliness.  Gold highlights are also present in both icons, which was unique to this period of Kievan icon painting.

While we sometimes refer to the Icon “Not Made By Hands” as the “first icon”, this is not entirely accurate.  We know from Theology that, in actuality, it is Christ Himself Who is the first Icon, being the “Image (Icon) of the Invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), but the image “Not Made By Hands” is the first icon in the sense of what we commonly refer to as “icons” today: physical portrayals of Christ and His Saints.  It is precisely the Incarnation of Christ, the “Image of the Invisible God”, that resulted in the ending of the prohibition against creating “Images”… in the period of the Old Testament, it was impossible to make an image of God, Who was without image, but, through Christ’s Incarnation, God made an image of Himself.  By extension, this is the also the case in Orthodox iconography, in which divine things are “incarnated” through the physical medium of wood and paint, in a process sanctified by the prayerful work of icon painters.

At Damascene Gallery, we are honored to be able to provide such images to the faithful and pray that our work, begun in earnest on the feast of the Icon “Not Made By Hands”, will assist us all who are in search of our heavenly homeland.

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The time has finally arrived, and our web store is open for business!

Press release from from eadiocese.org

Damascene Gallery launches an online store

August 30th, 2010

With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop George, Damascene Gallery, a supplier of fine antique icons, newly painted icons, and high quality mounted icons, opened for business yesterday, on the feast of the Translation of the Icon of the Savior “Not Made by Hands” from Edessa to Constantinople. The web store features a wide selection of antique and new hand-painted icons, as well as a unique type of mounted icons consisting of high-quality canvas prints mounted to traditional solid-wood panels with support slats commonly found on antique icons. Concerning the rationale of such a design, the founders of Damascene Gallery explained that such panels combined with the canvas prints result in a mounted icon that looks and feels much like the antique icons also being offered in the store.

Currently, the web store features around 30 antique icons, ranging from the early 18^th century to the beginning of the 20^thcentury. Additionally, there are some 20 new painted icons in inventory, as well as numerous antique brass icons and crosses. Around 230 images, including many from the Holy Trinity Monastery collection, are available for ordering as mounted icons. The inventory of icons is expected to significantly increase within the next several weeks, and the selection of mounted icons is being continuously updated.

The shop is named in honor of the great defender of icons, St. John Damascene.

In addition to the icon shop, Damascene Gallery is organizing a gallery of public domain icons that is fully searchable.

On the Web: http://www.damascenegallery.com

Icon Gallery: http://icons.damascenegallery.com

Click here for full press release on eadiocese.org.

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