Icon on Glass, Virgin of Kazan
Acrylic Paint on glass

10" x 8"

And again, something I have never done before! This is not a well-known style of Icon painting, but a beautiful one. It comes from Romania, and it is done through a process of reversed painting. In "usual" icon-writing, an iconographer starts by putting in broader shapes of color, moving up in layers using lighter/ brighter colors as s/he goes, finishing with highlights. In glass painting the process is reversed, and is started by putting in the highlights. I came across this form of iconography through a very talented Romanian icon writer, who happens to be the wife of my husband's dear friend. We have a couple of her Icons and the more I looked at them, the more I was inspired to try writing one myself. (Those of you who are people of the artistic nature can understand this necessity to create I was experiencing, can't you?) Needless to say the process was very time-consuming and mind-bending, but I definitely enjoyed it. I was trying to find an internet resources that could help you understand the origin of this style, and this video on Youtube is one of the most helpful ones I found. If you can share another resource, mention it here. Also if you know of a good book on this subject matter I can purchase, please let me know!


This icon falls under the type of Virgin Hodegetria. Just her head and shoulder can be seen, but Mary is holding her Child and through the tilt of her head she is inviting the viewer to look at Christ. Next to Christ's head are the letters " IC XC", - "Jesus Christ" in Greek. Jesus' tri-radiant halo also carries three Greek letters, O W N, which means "I AM". It symbolizes Christ's divinity, and refers to His words "Before Abraham was, I AM". There is a wonderful series of podcast "The Names of Jesus" by Fr. Tom Hopko, and in the recording titled Jesus - The True Vine he explores the "I AM" statements in St' John's Gospel - I strongly recommend taking time to listen if you haven't already. And if you did, listen again..!