The Less-Common Icon FAQ
By Reader Daniel
Its easy to get icons of Christ, the Theotokos, St. John the Baptist,
St. Nicholas, St. George, etc..., but many other icons are harder to
get. This FAQ is intended to cover sources of less commonly available
icons. I have a limited collection of topics and sources currently, but
hopefully both can be improved on with your help.
If you find more sources, please let me know. For now, I have a rather
limited collection of suppliers found.
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How do I get icons of Western Saints (Western European and North American)?
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See the Western saint FAQ for more information on this.
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How do I get icons of Old Testament Saints?
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1) St. Vladamir's carries icons of Old Testament saints [I believe]
St. Vladimir's Seminary Bookstore
575 Scarsdale Road
Crestwood, NY 10707
1-800-204-2665
2) Holy Transfiguration monastary
Holy Transfiguration Monastery
278 Warren Street
Brookline, MA 02146
800-227-1629
http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/resource/catalogs.html
carries: [I may have missed some]
A-22 Hospitality of Abraham (7 1/2 x 9 1/4)
A-152 St. Ruth (7 x 9 1/2)
A-230 Three Children in the Furnace (7 1/4 x 9 5/8)
A-130 Three Patriarchs--Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob (7 x 9 1/2)
A-231 Holy Prophet Daniel (6 3/8 x 9 5/8)
A-44 Prophet King David (7 5/8 x 9 1/2)
A-150 St. Deborah (7 1/2 x 9 3/4) [OT one?]
A-47 Holy Prophet Elias (6 1/2 x 9 3/4)
A-77 Patriarch Joseph the All-comely (7 3/4 x 9 3/4)
A-307 St. Judith (7 1/2 x 9 1/2) [from the book of Judith?]
A-80 St. Justin Martyr the Philosopher (5 1/4 x 9 3/4)
A-83 Holy Maccabee Children & SS. Eleazar & Solomone (7 1/4 x
A-202 Holy Patriarch Abraham (6 x 9 3/8)
A-341 Holy Prophet Jeremiah (7 1/2 x 7 1/2)
A-234 Holy Prophet Jesus of Navi (Joshua) (7 1/8 x 9 1/8)
A-69 Holy Prophet Job (7 x 9 1/2)
A-257 Holy Prophet Jonah (7 3/4 x 9 5/8)
A-335 Holy Prophet Moses (6 7/8 x 9 1/2)
R-9 Holy Prophet Isaias--by Kontoglou (4 1/2 x 8 3/4) 10.00
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How do I get icons of African Saints?
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1) Holy Transfiguration monastary carries
A-184 St. Moses the Ethiopian (7 1/4 x 9 1/2)
A-286 St. Cyprian (7 3/8 x 9 3/4)
A-251 St. Julia of Carthage (6 1/2 x 9 1/8)
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Where can I commision an icon?
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1) St. Elizabeth Convent in California
[I ordered one of Prophet Daniel.
My priest Fr. David thought it was a good traditional Byzantine icon, and
plans to order several icons for his family from this source. As a
side-benefit of ordering from them (we also ordered my Reader's cassock from
them), they told us in the letter that came with the icon that they
regularly pray for Fr. David and myself.]
2) Holy Trinity Monastary, Jordanville, NY
3) An iconographer mentioned in a prior Christian Activist, but don't have
information here
4) Holy Transfiguration Monastery
[5 and 6 descriptions come from Nina]
5) A very good, Byzantine style iconographer is Paul Azkoul, 8502 Vasel
Ave., St. Louis, MO 63123-3635, 314-353-7696. He's done a lovely set of
St. Aiden and St. Oswin which HTM will be reproducing and adding to their
catalog. The person who commissioned those is doing more early British
saints.
6) Kararzyna M. Mankowska, 48 Thurston Rd., Newton, MA 02164-12244 does
very good traditional Russian icons - wonderful work. Do not have a phone
number unfortunately.
7) Lev A. & Ksenia M. Pokrovsky Izograph Co.
84 Oxford St., Apt. 3
Somerville, MA 02143-1618
Tel/Fax: (617) 628-8639 e-mail: nipokrov@lynx.dac.neu.edu
[They plan to start teaching iconography too.]
8) [Bill Samsonoff]
Icons can be commissioned from
the Nuns of New Skete,
Monastery of Our Lady of the Sign
R.D. #1, Box 34
Cambridge, NY 12816-9704
Tel: (518) 677-3810.
I don't believe they have a catalog, but I do know they do
do iconography. Also, you can check with
the Companions of New Skete
Box 189
Cambridge, NY 12816
Telephone: (518) 677-8863.
The Nuns may also be a source for some "Western" saints.
[Editorial comment by Daniel Lieuwen: I include this because they are
a monastary of an Orthodox jurisdiction. I don't know what their
iconography is like, but I advise caution in general with them. The
theology I heard at a retreat from Fr. Laurence was "rather novel".]
Icon Classes
1) [From Priest Christopher]
The Instructor: Dimitri Andreyev
237 Elderidge Street
New York NY 10003
(212) 533-3279
Icon Studio and Classes are at
R.O. Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection (OCA)
59 E. 2nd Street
New York, NY 10003
(212)677-4664
Priest Chrsitopher Calin
$10 per hour for a three hour class ($30. per evening)
Russian Novogorodian School Method or egg-tempura on gesso board, all natural
pigments and finishes, no acrylic or varnish. New students begin by painting
an icon of the Archangel Michael and after five classes, if they are
consciencious, they have a beautifully finished icon which is blessed.
Technique includes process of finishing boards, andall aspect of painting
the icon. Boards, finished or unfinished may be purchased at the Cathedral
or by calling Dimitri or Mark Smith (212) 673-9181. Classes currently meet
on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but Special sessions can also be arranged.
Intensive Daylong Iconography Workshops are held periodically, call for
more details. Dimitri is the son of master Iconographer Vladislav Andreyev,
and after studying art and art restoration in St. Petersburg, Russia, began
painting icons. He is married and he and his wife, Rachel, ahve a 2 year old
daughter, Sophia.
The classes are not simply given over to technique, but the theological and
spiritual dimensions of icons are expounded as visual aids in leading both
the painter and those who view and venerate the icons deeper into the
spiritual life of the Church.
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Where else can I possibly look?
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1) Various saints hard to find elsewhere can be gotten from the "New Age
'Orthodox'" Monastary in Nebraska and are sold at many places including
Light and Life under the name "Windows into Heaven". I would urge that
those considering buying from this source (the only source for many Western
saints like St. David of Wales apparantly), consider carefully the warnings
about these icons that appeared on the Orthodox mailing list.