St. Anthony’s Monastery, Part II: the Iconography

One of the highlights of my trip to St. Anthony’s Monastery last fall was the many icons displayed in the church and the chapels. They were brought over from Greece. Some of them look to me like hand-painted originals, others like fine art reproductions, though I don’t know for sure. I don’t remember in which buildings most of these icons were located.

I’ve never been where so many icons are in one place. I’m fascinated by this Greek and Eastern Orthodox art form honoring Jesus, the saints, and the patriarchs. I hesitate to identify most of the images below, because I’d just be guessing. I am not knowledgeable about the symbolism, and I don’t read Greek, so I can’t decipher the writing on the icons.

In many of the icons, the thumb of the right hand (or both hands) touches the tip of the ring finger. I wonder what the significance of that is.

The picture below reminds me very much of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

Look at the eyes in the cup below.

Is it just me, or are a lot of the faces below the same?

Lovely mosaic:

The icon below is also a mosaic. I’m pretty sure this is St. George. He’s defeating the dragon. And it’s located just outside the St. George Chapel.

The next three pictures are closeups of St. George so you can see the details. Amazing craftsmanship.

The following two mosaic angels are on the exterior of the St. George Chapel.

I love the Madonna and Child below. Any parent will recognize the backward arching of the infant.

I took another picture at an angle, because I wanted to get the Mother’s sweet face without the hanging candle holder right in front of it. Unfortunately, the angle caused a distortion that makes the Baby look all wonky.

This magnificent painted crucifix is in St. Seraphim’s Chapel.

This icon is also in St. Seraphim’s Chapel. Could it be Seraphim himself? Isn’t it interesting that there are notes stuck behind the picture? Could they be prayer requests?

One more post coming about St. Anthony’s: the Monastery gardens.