Thursday Thirteen #15 - Of Angels, Icons and Byzantium
For this week’s Thursday Thirteen, I bring you 13 images of angels, prophets and saints, inspired by Byzantine Iconography.
In Greek, the word icon simply means “image.” Icons are painted according to specific guidelines by iconographers, or icon-writers who have studied the canons and carry out their work in a prayerful manner.
The icon is outside of time in space. Iconographers do not paint, but rather write the images as dictated by God. Byzantine icons are stylized images depicting significant events in both the Old and New Testament. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, icons are used to depict the world between life and death.
My most treasured possession is an icon passed down from my maternal grandmother to my mother and now, me. It is an icon of the Annunciation. You can read more about the icon and my grandmother in Smyrna, the beginning.
Many of the beautiful icons in today’s Thursday Thirteen are from Sister Kathleen’s site.
From Sailing to ByzantiumOnce out of nature I shall never take
My bodily form from any natural thing,
But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make
Of hammered gold and gold enamelling
To keep a drowsy Emperor awake;
Or set upon a golden bough to sing
To lords and ladies of Byzantium
Of what is past, or passing, or to come.~ William Butler Yeats
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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Comments
I've often thought that creating an image is, in part, an active meditation on what that image represents.
What beauty you've given us!
Posted by: Cin | June 1, 2007 9:22 AM
Beautiful! I have not seen most of those images before.
Posted by: JHS | May 31, 2007 7:20 PM
Wow, they just put a feeling of peace in the air. Thank you :-)
Posted by: Tilly Greene | May 31, 2007 1:32 PM
Very cool. I have a thing for religious art, not because I'm particularly religious but because it has so much meaning tied up in it.
Posted by: Sonja Foust | May 31, 2007 10:29 AM
I love these pre-Renaissance works. They're so distinctive and beautiful.
Posted by: Wylie Kinson | May 31, 2007 9:31 AM
Happy TT. Yeats and icons - what a great combination of creativity and beauty.
***Applause***
Posted by: MissMeliss | May 31, 2007 8:40 AM
These are beautiful pictures, Christine. I really like #3 for some reason. Wonderful.
Posted by: Christine d'Abo | May 31, 2007 7:35 AM
These images are so familar to me, having spent so much time in the homes of Orthodox friends... they're beautiful
Posted by: Miss Frou Frou | May 31, 2007 7:07 AM
Such varied representations. I love #9. They remind me of the Book of Kells which is such a religious work of art.
Posted by: colleen | May 31, 2007 6:04 AM
Hey Christine, thanks for visiting my TT. These pics are beautiful! For some reason picture #4 calls to me very deeply, the young but tired look in his eyes...
Loved the poem by William Butler Yeats. =) Wonderful TT, Xine, as always.
Posted by: Red | May 31, 2007 5:36 AM
What a wonderful, creative Thursday Thirteen! I loved it. And I also loved reading the excerpt from "Sailing to Byzantium" -- I adore Yeats's work, and how beautifully the poem dovetails with your TT topic.
Happy TT, and thanks for visiting mine -- I so appreciate your kind words about my book *big smile*. :)
Posted by: Thomma Lyn | May 30, 2007 10:25 PM