Detail of The Unsleeping Eye by Vladislav Andrejev, 2010, Egg tempera on gessoed wood panel, 24.75 x 20 x 1.5 inches
From The Museum of Russian Icons Summer 2019 Newsletter:
The Museum is pleased to premiere Wrestling with Angels, an exhibition of forty-six luminous contemporary icons by sixteen iconographers from the Prosopon School of Iconology and Iconography. On view from July 19-October 20, 2019, the exhibition will feature icons by the founder of the Prosopon School, Vladislav Andrejev, along with works by master iconographers, instructors, and apprentices.
Visitors will encounter the icons as they would within an Orthodox church, beginning with depictions of events and persons from Hebrew scripture that would be found in the narthex (or vestibule); and continuing with icons that would surround the congregation in the nave, including images of Jesus and his mother Mary (known in the Christian East as the Theotokos, Greek for “God-bearer”). The exhibition concludes with icons that would be found on or behind the iconostasis (the screen or wall that separates the nave from the altar), including icons of the principal feasts of the Christian liturgical year as well as icons of mystical subjects that point to the second coming of Christ.
Wrestling with Angels is a reference to the first icon on view, a work depicting the mysterious wrestling match between the patriarch Jacob and an unidentified stranger as described in Genesis.
A centerpiece of the exhibition is the deisis (Greek for “supplication”), a group of five large icons with Christ in Glory at its center. The deisis in this exhibition includes portrayals of Saints Gregory Palamas and Gregory the Theologian, whose mystical theology is central to the Prosopon School’s teaching.
Since its founding in 2000, the Prosopon School, among the first American schools of iconography, has introduced thousands of students worldwide to this sacred art of the Christian East. The artistic discipline of iconography is the means through which students are introduced to the larger discipline of iconology: the exploration of what it means to have been created in the image and likeness of God. The Prosopon School accomplishes this by breaking the process into distinct technical steps and associating these with the theology and teachings of the Orthodox Church, especially those of the early Church Fathers.
The Museum offers a six-day intensive workshop by the Prosopon School each August. There are a few spaces left in this year's class. Visit our website: museumofrussianicons.org/classes-workshops for information.