www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship Icons & Iconography Icon of the Descent of the Holy Spirit with the Theotokos

Does anyone here have a link to an Icon of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room with the Theotokos in the center?

I need it for a paper I am writing...

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Father Deacon Daniel

I don't like to promote bad icons, but since it is required for academic purposes:
Icons:
http://www.archmil.org/resources/userfiles/stimes/iconchurch.htm
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/resources/icon3.html

A really bad one:
http://www.maronite-heritage.com/html/maronite_icons-liturgical_43.html

I didn't think the one in the second link was that bad.

Alexis

Orest,

Thank you for these!

The Maronite one is part of the iconographical style in conformity with that tradition. The first icon, however, was very strange looking!

God bless,

Fr. Deacon Daniel

The first one uses colors which remind me of PC games I played on a 286.

I actually like the third one the best. I am thinking of hunting one down....

ps

I like it myself too, but then I am not an expert on icons.

Deacon Daniel,
Here is a recent icon that I painted for the icon screen at Saint Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Wilkes-Barre, PA. If you decide to use it, please give credit to me and Saint Mary's Church. PM me if you need more information.

[Linked Image]

Ray
www.theologyincolor.com [theologyincolor.com]

Ray,

The icon is exquisite, my brother.

Many years,

Neil

Found this one on the web.

[Linked Image]

Shlomo Fr. Deacon Daniel waOrest,

Fr. Deacon you are correct about the Maronite Icon being within our iconographic tradition.

Orest, I would like to know what makes you think the icon was really bad? The reason that I ask is that I am helping to re-develop a lay Maronite website, Beith Souryoyé Morounoyé [beith-morounoye.org] and want to make sure that it is appealing to others. All help is appreaciated.

Fush BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Here's one from the Printery House.

Pentecost Icon [printeryhouse.org]

Can someone please explain to me why some icons of the Pentecost have the Theotokos, while others don't?

Слава Ісусу Христу!

Asianpilgrim, thanks for the question. Sorry I can not answer, in my day we never questioned orthodoxy only accepted what was taught to us. I was told you either depicted the Theotokos (Boshu’s Mama) representing the Church with an empty cosmic grate or the old man reprinting the Cosmos but not both. Also the apostles were always in a semicircular council seating of equality. Hopefully someone can fill us in on the why and when this changed.

Within every iconic tradition, there is a diversity of presentation, despite that each such tradition has its own set of "canons" regarding color, stylistics, and other aspects of rendering. I've long been a proponent of encouraging Eastern and Oriental Catholics to leave themselves open to learning of, understanding, and being open to veneration of icons from traditions other than their own.

I came to this "mission" after discovering that some of my acquaintance turned to Western "religious art" and/or statuary because the icons of their own tradition did not speak to them spiritually. They either did not perceive it acceptable to look outside of their own tradition, whether it be their national/ethnic or specific ecclesial background - although they found "going West" acceptable - or they were ignorant of other Eastern/Oriental iconic traditions.

Over the years, I've succeeded in increasing awareness on the part of a number of friends that there are "styles" and "renderings" other than their own and in which they found what they could not in their own. While everyone might not agree, I found this very satisfying - it didn't dilute their relationship with their own church, ethnicity, etc. Rather, it gave them an appreciation for the broader realm of our Eastern/Oriental Christianity.

Personally, I find that particular Maronite icon very beautiful and much in line with their Church's evolving iconic style (which is really being recovered, redeveloped, or restored - however one chooses to describe it, having been a victim of the latinization that plagued the Maronites for so long). I guess I'm also curious, with Shawn, as to what Orest found "awful" about it.

Is it a perception that the presentation is westernized? Or, is it the marked difference from the Byzantine style with which the majority of us are most familiar? (Albeit, the 'Byzantine style' itself runs the gamut from the ascetic Greek through the softer Arabic, the Slavic styles that lie somewhere between those two, the folk-art style of some East European Byzantines - the Czechs come especially to mind in that regard, the western-influenced Bielorussian style, and the myriad schools that one could never describe in the singular as a Russian 'style'.)

Many years,

Neil