Monastery
Store: Books on Iconography
Store Home
| Icons &
Artwork | Mosaics | Greeting Cards |
Books on Iconography
Below is a small selection of high quality books about the meaning and history of iconography. Recovering the Icon: The Life and Work of Leonid Ouspensky, was written by Father Patrick, the head of the Monastery Icon Workshop and a pupil of Leonid Ouspensky.
Books will be shipped within 3 business days of being purchased.
Below is a small selection of high quality books about the meaning and history of iconography. Recovering the Icon: The Life and Work of Leonid Ouspensky, was written by Father Patrick, the head of the Monastery Icon Workshop and a pupil of Leonid Ouspensky.
Books will be shipped within 3 business days of being purchased.
Books by
Leonid Ouspensky
About
Leonid Ouspensky
The Meaning of Icons
by Leonid Ouspensky & Vladimir Lossky
9 x 12 inches, 222 pages, Includes 160 pages of text with drawings, 13 black and white and 51 full color plates.
by Leonid Ouspensky & Vladimir Lossky
9 x 12 inches, 222 pages, Includes 160 pages of text with drawings, 13 black and white and 51 full color plates.
$55.00 - Softcover
$70.00 - Hardcover
Recovering the Icon: The Life and Work
of Leonid Ouspensky
by Father Patrick
Foreward by
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom
9.5 x 12 inches, 104 pages, Includes 111 color plates.
by Father Patrick
Foreward by
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom
9.5 x 12 inches, 104 pages, Includes 111 color plates.
$35.00 - Hardcover
The Theology of the Icon
(2 volume set)
by Leonid Ouspensky
6 x 9 inches, 528 pages, Includes 51 black and white photo illustrations, a four-panel foldout and six color plates.
(2 volume set)
by Leonid Ouspensky
6 x 9 inches, 528 pages, Includes 51 black and white photo illustrations, a four-panel foldout and six color plates.
$38.00 - Softcover
In the last decades the art of icons has gained
increased attention. Once icons were passed over
by the art critics, or at most classified as
popular art, although painters such as Matisse or
Picasso went to Russia especially for the sake of
studying this art. Most recently many books have
been published on icon painting. Yet the present
work is the first of its kind to give a reliable
introduction into the spiritual background of
this art.
The nature of the icon cannot be grasped by means of pure art criticism, nor by the adoption of a sentimental point of view. Its forms are based on the wisdom contained in the theological and liturgical writings of the Eastern Orthodox Church and are intimately bound up with the experience of contemplative life.
The introduction into the meaning and the language of the icons by Ouspensky imparts to us in an admirable way the spiritual conceptions of the Eastern Orthodox Church which are often so foreign to us, but without the knowledge of which we cannot possibly understand the world of the icon.
"It is not the purpose of the icon to touch its contemplator. Neither is it its purpose to recall one or the other human experience of natural life; it is meant to lead every human sentiment as well as reason and all other qualities of human nature on the way to illumination."
"The entire visible world as depicted in the icon is to foreshadow the coming Unity of the whole creation, of the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost."
The theological justification of the icon was derived by the Seventh Ecumenical Council from the fact of the Incarnation of God. God became human for the elation and deification of Man. This deification becomes visible in the saints. The Byzantine theologian often sets the calling of an icon painter on an equal level with that of a priest. Devoted to the service of a more sublime reality, he exercises his objective duty the same way as the liturgical priest. The "spiritual genuineness" of the icon, the cryptic, almost sacral power to convince, is not alone due to accurate observation of the iconographic canon, but also the ascetic fervor of the painter.
A very interesting section of the technique of icon painting is followed by the main part of the book, in which both authors describe the most important types of icons. Apart from a detailed description of the icon screen (iconostas) of the Russian Church, 58 types are explained with the aid of an equal number of illustrations, amongst which there are alone 10 various representatives of the virgin. Special mention is due to 51 icons reproduced in their complete colorful splendor.
The section of subjects made in order to reveal the main features of Orthodox iconography was naturally limited to the examples available outside of Russia. But this not in the least diminishes the value of the book; on the contrary, it led to the reproduction of many beautiful icons which had never been published before or had been unknown to wider public. A considerable number of museums and private collectors in Europe and America spontaneously placed their collections at the disposal of the authors.
The nature of the icon cannot be grasped by means of pure art criticism, nor by the adoption of a sentimental point of view. Its forms are based on the wisdom contained in the theological and liturgical writings of the Eastern Orthodox Church and are intimately bound up with the experience of contemplative life.
The introduction into the meaning and the language of the icons by Ouspensky imparts to us in an admirable way the spiritual conceptions of the Eastern Orthodox Church which are often so foreign to us, but without the knowledge of which we cannot possibly understand the world of the icon.
"It is not the purpose of the icon to touch its contemplator. Neither is it its purpose to recall one or the other human experience of natural life; it is meant to lead every human sentiment as well as reason and all other qualities of human nature on the way to illumination."
"The entire visible world as depicted in the icon is to foreshadow the coming Unity of the whole creation, of the Kingdom of the Holy Ghost."
The theological justification of the icon was derived by the Seventh Ecumenical Council from the fact of the Incarnation of God. God became human for the elation and deification of Man. This deification becomes visible in the saints. The Byzantine theologian often sets the calling of an icon painter on an equal level with that of a priest. Devoted to the service of a more sublime reality, he exercises his objective duty the same way as the liturgical priest. The "spiritual genuineness" of the icon, the cryptic, almost sacral power to convince, is not alone due to accurate observation of the iconographic canon, but also the ascetic fervor of the painter.
A very interesting section of the technique of icon painting is followed by the main part of the book, in which both authors describe the most important types of icons. Apart from a detailed description of the icon screen (iconostas) of the Russian Church, 58 types are explained with the aid of an equal number of illustrations, amongst which there are alone 10 various representatives of the virgin. Special mention is due to 51 icons reproduced in their complete colorful splendor.
The section of subjects made in order to reveal the main features of Orthodox iconography was naturally limited to the examples available outside of Russia. But this not in the least diminishes the value of the book; on the contrary, it led to the reproduction of many beautiful icons which had never been published before or had been unknown to wider public. A considerable number of museums and private collectors in Europe and America spontaneously placed their collections at the disposal of the authors.
The author has selected, photographed, and
commented on more than one hundred representative
works of the gifted iconographer Leonid
Ouspensky (1902-1987), who
rediscovered the sources of Orthodox
Christian iconography and painted icons of
immense theological and spiritual import.
The volume includes a powerful biography
by the iconographer's spouse, Lydia
Ouspensky, and a moving recollection of
the master iconographer's approach to icon
painting, by his student, the author Monk
Patrick of Saint Gregory of Sinai
Monastery.
Leonid Ouspensky settled in France following the Russian Revolution and worked as a talented but struggling commercial painter prior to discovering the icon, which became his life's work. Orthodox iconography had been in full decline since the seventeenth century, and Ouspensky set out to rediscover the genuine sources of Eastern Christian art and to recover the tradition that had spawned them. On a practical level, through detailed study of the most representative ancient icons, and on a theological level, through deep study of the dogmatic foundations of the icon, Ouspensky produced his monumental book, Theology of the Icon (for sale above). The book was later translated into English, Italian, Greek, Romanian, and Polish, and posthumously in Russian, and remains a major reference and influence in the field.
Ouspensky painted numerous icons himself, which are characterized by perfection of technique, purity of style, and depth of theological and spiritual expression. These icons are dispersed throughout various churches and private collections.
For more than forty years, Ouspensky taught iconography in Paris to pupils who came from the whole world. They consistently heard his humble admonition: "The old icons are the best teachers." Some of these pupils subsequently founded schools in their countries of origin, and spread Ouspensky's influence abroad, including the author of this volume.
To Ouspensky an icon was not merely an aesthetic creation, but a vision in lines and colors of the Divine World, and it pervaded, conquered, and transfigured the fallen world.
Leonid Ouspensky settled in France following the Russian Revolution and worked as a talented but struggling commercial painter prior to discovering the icon, which became his life's work. Orthodox iconography had been in full decline since the seventeenth century, and Ouspensky set out to rediscover the genuine sources of Eastern Christian art and to recover the tradition that had spawned them. On a practical level, through detailed study of the most representative ancient icons, and on a theological level, through deep study of the dogmatic foundations of the icon, Ouspensky produced his monumental book, Theology of the Icon (for sale above). The book was later translated into English, Italian, Greek, Romanian, and Polish, and posthumously in Russian, and remains a major reference and influence in the field.
Ouspensky painted numerous icons himself, which are characterized by perfection of technique, purity of style, and depth of theological and spiritual expression. These icons are dispersed throughout various churches and private collections.
For more than forty years, Ouspensky taught iconography in Paris to pupils who came from the whole world. They consistently heard his humble admonition: "The old icons are the best teachers." Some of these pupils subsequently founded schools in their countries of origin, and spread Ouspensky's influence abroad, including the author of this volume.
To Ouspensky an icon was not merely an aesthetic creation, but a vision in lines and colors of the Divine World, and it pervaded, conquered, and transfigured the fallen world.
The Theology of the Icon includes more
than the basic theory of the transfiguration of
beauty and the sanctification of art. It is a
fundamental element in the entire body of
Orthodox Tradition. In this two-volume work,
Leonid Ouspensky provides the reader with a deep
and serious approach to the mystery of the sacred
image. He surveys the development of the sacred
art of the Christian East from its beginnings in
catacomb art through the iconoclastic controversy
of the eighth and ninth century. Drawing
especially on the Russian Orthodox tradition, the
author studies a large number of texts with care
and in great detail. He includes an analysis of
the flowering of early Russian iconography,
tracing its later development and the state of
the art today.
This is the most comprehensive introduction available to the history and theology of the icon, and is the standard text upon which most modern studies of iconography are based. Volume I, originally published in 1978, has been updated by the author and contains large sections of new material.
Leonid Ouspensky, one of the most influential iconographers and iconologists of this century, lived in Paris, France, until his death in 1987. His book The Meaning of Icons, has become a classic.
This is the most comprehensive introduction available to the history and theology of the icon, and is the standard text upon which most modern studies of iconography are based. Volume I, originally published in 1978, has been updated by the author and contains large sections of new material.
Leonid Ouspensky, one of the most influential iconographers and iconologists of this century, lived in Paris, France, until his death in 1987. His book The Meaning of Icons, has become a classic.