The Icon: Window on the Kingdom

Rating:
Summary: A short masterpiece
Review: This book manages to deal with the theology, the history, the technique and the underlying philosophy of icon painting in a deceptively short number of pages. The author is a linguist who has closely studied his subject over many years. He wears his scholarship lightly. Perhaps out of respect for his subject he avoids any hint of egotism, prefering to quote from a wide range of authors ranging from the earliest days of Christianity down to the present day. His ostensibly modest comments, aparently centered on the icon, widen out into a critique of modern life and how it may be refocused through the contemplation of the spiritual perspective on which the icon is alone based. It would be hard to imagen a better selection of illustrations. Those range from the earliest examples from Greece through the golden age of Russian art through to Ouspensky and Kroug, including those artists who have managed to remain anonymous as the icon demands since they claim no credit for the inspiration which drives them. On the net itself some very good examples of real icons can be sourced through "Theologic WorldLinks" and others.