CLASSICAL ICONOGRAPHY INSTRUCTION
IN THE BYZANTINE STYLE
Students in Beginning Level I write the Mandylion
We Teach You Why
Classical Iconography Institute is dedicated to training iconographers, capable of writing liturgical icons for the church. This entails teaching students a comprehensive circumscription of the saint or subject matter to learn the saint’s history, underlying theology or message of the icon, and the subject’s depiction throughout the centuries in conjunction with today’s message.
We Teach You How:
In our Beginning Level Classes (101, 102, 103) in 35 hours of instruction, students learn how to:
- Prepare an icon board for painting (gesso class is separate)
- Transfer an image
- Gild with transfer leaf
- Paint lines in the Byzantine style
- Properly render facial features in conjunction with underlying geometry
- Make egg emulsion & mix pigment
- Differentiate the difference between glazing methods
- Brush technique – wet vs. dry
- Execute a full-frontal face & ¾ turned smaller face/bust figure & hands
- Depict inverse perspective
- Apply gold assist
- Paint the features unique to Christ, the Theotokos, and St. John the Baptist
- Finish the icon
We Provide:
- A handmade iconboard gessoed with ground marble & rabbit skin glue
- Historic earth & mineral pigments from Zecchi’s Colori Belle Arti in Florence, the same pigments used by the Uffizi to conserve the world’s masterpieces
- Foundational supplies such as a clayboard, transfer paper, vellum
- Use of one-time supplies stocked by the program
Beginning Levels
- Beginning I = the Holy Mandylion
- Beginning II = the Theotokos (Hagiosoritissa)
- Beginning III = the Pantocrator
- Beginning IV = St. John the Baptist
Students who complete the icons of the Theotokos, Pantocrator & St. John the Baptist will have a mini-Deisis for a home prayer corner.
As You Become More Advanced
Intermediate Level
Students who have completed all four beginning levels will join a seminar-style course as Intermediate Level students in a class taught by our Master Iconographer who instructs from a classic icon of antiquity, simplified for the intermediate students and written on a much larger panel. Depending upon the class, this may involve a full standing figure or specialty details, such as angel hair, the features of an ascetic, or monastic, or focus on garments.
Advanced Level
In our Advanced Level classes, in 40 hours of instruction, students who have completed all four beginning and the intermediate levels, receive individualized instruction, focusing on learning how to accurately copy an icon of antiquity by more fully observing intricate details, creating color & conte studies, color analysis, advanced painting techniques, gilding and gold assist.
Preservation of An Ancient Liturgical Artform
We carefully research our methods and supplies using only those closest to those used in antiquity to remain true to the historic production of icons, preserving this ancient liturgical artform for the benefit of mankind.