The Meaning of Icons

Publication Data: Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1999
Format: softcover
Number of Pages: 221
Dimensions (l × w × h): 30.5 cm × 22.9 cm × 2.0 cm
Additional Information: black-and-white and full-color illustrations
ISBN: 0‒913836‒99‒0

   
by Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir Losssky
translated by G. E. H. Palmer and E. Kadloubovsky

“The art of icons is a sacred art in the true sense of the word. It is nourished wholly on the spiritual truth to which it gives pictorial expression. For this reason it is often inadequately and faultily judged, when approached from outside with criteria borrowed from profane and purely human art. No one will better interpret it than a man whose mind is rooted in the same spirit. These are the basic considerations which have determined the composition of this book. [...]It need hardly be said that both the authors of this book themselves have lived and worked within the spiritual framework that conforms with the art of icons.”
—“Foreword”

CONTENTS

FOREWORD by Titus Burckhardt
PUBLISHER’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
TRADITION AND TRADITIONS by Vladimir Lossky
THE MEANING AND LANGUAGE OF ICONS by Leonid Ouspensky
THE TECHNIQUE OF ICONOGRAPHY by Leonid Ouspensky
EXPLANATION OF THE MAIN TYPES OF ICONS:
The Iconostasis by Leonid Ouspensky
The Holy or Royal Door by Leonid Ouspensky
Icons of Christ by Vladimir Lossky
The Saviour Acheiropoietos by Vladimir Lossky
The Pantocrator by Vladimir Lossky
Icons of the Mother of God by Vladimir Lossky
Our Lady of the Sign by Leonid Ouspensky
The Hodigitria by Vladimir Lossky
The Smolensk Mother of God by Vladimir Lossky
The Tichvine Mother of God by Vladimir Lossky
The Kazan Mother of God by Vladimir Lossky
The Mother of God Enthroned by Leonid Ouspensky
Icons of Loving-Kindness by Leonid Ouspensky
The Vladimir Mother of God by Leonid Ouspensky
The Tolga Mother of God by Leonid Ouspensky
The Korsun Mother of God by Leonid Ouspensky
The Mother of God of the Passion by Vladimir Lossky
Saint John the Forerunner by Vladimir Lossky
Saint John the Forerunner by Vladimir Lossky
The Archangel Michael by Vladimir Lossky and Leonid Ouspensky
Portraits of the Apostles Peter and Paul and an Icon of the Apostle Paul by Leonid Ouspensky
St. Luke the Evangelist by Vladimir Lossky
St. John the Evangelist by Vladimir Lossky
An Icon of the Holy Bishop Abraham by Leonid Ouspensky
St. Gregory Palamas by Vladimir Lossky
The Holy Bishop Nicholas, the Miracle-Worker of Myra, by Leonid Ouspensky
St. Basil the Great and the Great Martyr St. George by Leonid Ouspensky
The Head of St. George the Martyr by Leonid Ouspensky
St. Sergius of Radonej by Leonid Ouspensky
St. Simeon Stylites by Vladimir Lossky
St. Macarius of Unsha and Yellow Waters by Leonid Ouspensky
St. Demetrius of Thessalonica by Vladimir Lossky
The Great Martyr St. Paraskeva Piatnitza by Leonid Ouspensky
The Great Martyr St. George and the Dragon by Leonid Ouspensky
The Holy Prophet Elijah in the Desert by Leonid Ouspensky
Collective Icons by Vladimir Lossky
The Principal Festivals
The Birth of the Holy Virgin by Vladimir Lossky
The Raising of the Cross by Vladimir Lossky
The Protection of the Mother of God by Vladimir Lossky
The Presentation of the Holy Virgin in the Temple by Vladimir Lossky
The Nativity of Christ by Leonid Ouspensky
The Nativity of Christ by Leonid Ouspensky
The Baptism of the Lord or Epiphany by Leonid Ouspensky
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple by Vladimir Lossky
The Annunciation by Leonid Ouspensky
The Raising of Lazarus by Leonid Ouspensky
The Entry into Jerusalem by Leonid Ouspensky
The Cross by Vladimir Lossky
The Resurrection by Leonid Ouspensky
The Descent into Hell by Leonid Ouspensky
The Spice-Bearing Women at the Sepulchre by Leonid Ouspensky
Mid-Pentecost by Vladimir Lossky
The Ascension of Our Lord by Leonid Ouspensky
Icons of Pentecost by Leonid Ouspensky
The Holy Trinity by Leonid Ouspensky
The Descent of the Holy Spirit by Leonid Ouspensky
The Transfiguration by Vladimir Lossky
The Transfiguration by Vladimir Lossky
The Dormition of the Mother of God by Vladimir Lossky
INDEX OF PLATES
INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SUGGESTED BIBLIOGRAPHY