Here's an odd icon question . . .

[Light of the East]

I downloaded a beautiful picture of Christ the Bridegroom icon and printed it out. Could I mount this on a piece of wood, cover the icon with a layer of varnish to protect it, and have it blessed?

Would it be the same as an icon I would buy online from AFR or some other source?

Fr. Matt?

 

[Sword of the Lord]

A lot of icons are just prints. I'd say most icons people buy. Hand painted are super expensive.

 

[All4Christ]

I downloaded a beautiful picture of Christ the Bridegroom icon and printed it out. Could I mount this on a piece of wood, cover the icon with a layer of varnish to protect it, and have it blessed?

Would it be the same as an icon I would buy online from AFR or some other source?

Fr. Matt?

My question with this would be whether it should or should not just be printed instead of buying it. Buying it often supports the iconographer or monastery. I would feel more comfortable if it was an icon from a hundred years ago rather than one where the iconographer is still alive.

That said - perhaps buying a paper print would be a reasonable way to still support the iconographer or monastery- but not have all the overhead of the mounting, etc.? Some iconographers do this now through printing services, Zazzle or some similar service. (At times, I can’t find the iconographer though, which limits that possibility.)

@ArmyMatt Fr Matt can comment more on the spiritual side of it.

 

[prodromos]

I downloaded a beautiful picture of Christ the Bridegroom icon and printed it out. Could I mount this on a piece of wood, cover the icon with a layer of varnish to protect it, and have it blessed

Yes. No question. If the icon is by a current iconographer however, it would be best to order a print directly from them.

 

[ArmyMatt]

yes you can. the myrrh gushing Hawaiian icon is a print

 

[Light of the East]

My question with this would be whether it should or should not just be printed instead of buying it. Buying it often supports the iconographer or monastery. I would feel more comfortable if it was an icon from a hundred years ago rather than one where the iconographer is still alive.

That said - perhaps buying a paper print would be a reasonable way to still support the iconographer or monastery- but not have all the overhead of the mounting, etc.? Some iconographers do this now through printing services, Zazzle or some similar service. (At times, I can’t find the iconographer though, which limits that possibility.)

@ArmyMatt Fr Matt can comment more on the spiritual side of it.

I understand. I have looked for this particular icon online and no one seems to have it. It is very striking and one that I have not seen before. I would gladly pay for it if I could find it online.

 

[nutroll]

Generally speaking, what you will find online will be pretty low resolution compared to what you will find from a reputable seller of mounted prints. The reason for this is that reputable places either made the original and have a high quality image, or they have an agreement with the iconographer who made the original and the iconographer has provided them with a high quality image.

There are a multitude of places that simply steal low resolution images and mount them to sell, and as such the quality would be terrible. Some sites are selling things produced in China or India with stolen images. It's best to stick with iconographers, monasteries, or well known ministries.

All that being said, I don't object to such things when it's all someone can afford or if it's an image that really speaks to someone and they can't find it elsewhere.

 

[buzuxi02]

I've matted and framed icon prints before, they look beautiful.
I actually printed out an icon of the ladder of divine Ascent (it was high resolution took up the whole legal sized paper) laminated it, and then got it professionally framed.

 

[All4Christ]

An interesting “everyday miracle” with paper icons…

We had a calendar icon of the resurrection - one of the ones on the church calendars that we cut out. We burn paper icons when we no longer want to have them, per church tradition. In the fireplace, the icon started to burn on the edges. It continued to burn all the white margin around it (about an inch on all sides). It stopped burning on the actual icon, and would not burn past the edges. We took it out of the fireplace and have saved it in our icon corner.

I was at a bad place emotionally and spiritually when this happened. It reminded me that Christ will not be overcome; He will overcome everything and death has no power over Him.

 

[buzuxi02]

My former parish when I was young St Paul's Cathedral on Long Island enshrines two icons that shed myhrr both laminates.
Most icons sold at stores are not painted. A few months ago my cousin in Greece worked for a grocery store that caught on fire everything was destroyed except for an icon of St.Ephraim. the icon was wrapped in a clear plastic wrap. Even the plastic did not melt no discoloration while the rest of the store was totally destroyed. I believe it is a mounted icon. He sent me the picture: