New Cross
Originally uploaded by w.wabbit.
I purchased this hand-painted icon this morning at Trinity Church, Buffalo. It’s from El Salvador as indicated by the stamp on the back, and entitled “La Nueva Creacion” (written in the yellow clouds on either side of Jesus’ head). It includes an image of the Holy Trinity (with the Father represented by the Sun at the top of the Cross) a healed earth, a community centred on Jesus and the Holy Spirit descending on the community of the Apostles surrounding Mary. There’s also a rabbit. :-)
I’d say it’s about half a metre tall.
That reminds me of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, which has this long outdoor gallery of Madonna and Child pieces from dozens of countries. Pretty much all of the Latin American ones look like that, with the bright colors and native-ish motifs. I think Dan/Mobius has pictures of a bunch of them in his Flickr if you haven’t seen ‘em.
Huw,
Yet another thing you and I have in common (in addition to the Welsh ancestry and being ex-Orthodox): I have the same icon on my wall and say my morning prayers before it.
I can’t tell from your photograph whether it is the same artist or simply painted according to the same pattern. But it is very, very similar.
Another thing about that icon:
We bought it while I was still Orthodox. My priest examined it carefully, pronounced it theologically sound from and Orthodox point of view, and gave it his blessing. So you might call it a Latin-American-Rite Orthodox icon.
I’m with you (and the priest): incredibly Orthodox. but way more beautiful and, if you will, less stylised. Or rather, stylised in a way I find more attractive.
I was watching a recording of HBO’s “Rome” this weekend and, at one point, the lead character is missing his wife. He pulls a portrait of her, painted on a tiny block of wood, out of his pocket. It is, of course, an icon - in a style we’d recognise. It drives home the point of icons - as well as the lack-of-reason for their continued development in the East (the west has progressed).
Huw,
Huw,
I would like to get a similar cross. Does Trinity have more available? I looked on the web and could not find one.
Fr E - there are no more like this one… Trinity is partnered with a community in El Salvador called Nueva Esperanza. When a team goes down they bring back such things… I’ll be happy to keep an eye out for another.
Fr Ernesto - this is close