Icon Corners

[prodromos]

Here is an old thread http://christianforums.com/showthread.php?t=733543 where I posted our icon corner when we were living in Greece. I need to take some photos of our current setup in Sydney.

John

 

[cobweb]

Here is my rather modest icon corner. My husband is not Orthodox so has to be very small.

St. Michael in my son's room:

 

[Khaleas]

Prodromos,
Wow, that thread is old... and of course makes me wonder what all those folks are up to now (I mean some we still see around), but that was even before my time LOL and Monday was my 4 years on TAW...

 

[Giantsbran1227]

Is it usually proper to have on 1 icon of Jesus on the wall or is it ok to have more than one of Christ?

 

[Kristos]

Is it usually proper to have on 1 icon of Jesus on the wall or is it ok to have more than one of Christ?

One would be a good start.

Remember that there is nothing magical.

I don't have any icons, I just look at my navel.

 

[GBTWC]

can you just print an Icon on paper from the internet if you cant afford a fancy one?

 

[Anhelyna]

Yes , of course you can - but please make sure that it's from a reputable source - some are not

After all you are not , as you well know , worshipping the Icon .

You do what you can , as and when you can , in obtaining icons for your Icon corner - just now other things are getting in the way - but that wee little boy is a good thing .

It's nice to have a hand written Icon - I'd love to but can't afford one. I did buy 2 - but they were ordination Icons for a young cleric - the first , The Kazan Icon of the Mother of God for his ordination to the Diaconate and the second - Christ the High Priest was for his Priesthood .

 

[Michael G]

Is it usually proper to have on 1 icon of Jesus on the wall or is it ok to have more than one of Christ?

There is nothing wrong with having multiple icons of Christ. For that matter, there are certain icons in which Christ appears more than once, and there is nothing wrong with that either. In my icon room I have icons of Christ Pantocrator, the Holy Napkin, Christ walking on the Water, Christ Emmanuel, the Crucifixion, Christ Enthroned in Glory, The Theotokos (which almost always has Christ in it), the Entombment of Christ, Christ the Great High Priest, etc.

 

[Michael G]

can you just print an Icon on paper from the internet if you cant afford a fancy one?

It is ok to print one, but it is not preferrable. Until the last century the Russian Church completely frowned upon prints of icons being made at all. It has lightened up on its stance on this matter and now allows mounted prints of icons. However, there are things like copyright laws which need to be respected. Icons are not copyrightable, per se, as God is the author of every image. What is copyrightable is the photograph of the particular icon that was painted itself. Thus when I write an icon another person can not take pictures of my icon and sell them or use them for his or her own reasons with out my expressed permission. Most of the time iconographers are pretty cool about allowing people to make a print or 2 of their work, but you need to check with the person whose work it is before you go ahead doing so. Another problem with printing pictures of icons off the internet is that most image files of icons on line are of such poor quality that anything larger than a 5x7 just doesn't do the icon any justice.

For those who say I am overreacting in making this statement I can tell you of a number of times when monks have taken images of living iconographers work and made mounted prints of them and proceeded to sell the work without giving the iconographer any credit for writing the work and without paying the iconographer for using their work.

 

[Julina]

Is it usually proper to have on 1 icon of Jesus on the wall or is it ok to have more than one of Christ?

i have three icons of Christ on my wall.

 

[Julina]

Hey, I recognize some of those icons!

my friends are pretty impressed. it's a great conversation starter!

 

[Michael G]

my friends are pretty impressed. it's a great conversation starter!

Thank you!

 

[prodromos]

Is it usually proper to have on 1 icon of Jesus on the wall or is it ok to have more than one of Christ?

In our current icon corner we have 4 icons of Christ at different heights up the wall plus a few of Panagia. I've come to appreciate finding Christ before my eyes regardless of my spiritual state when praying. When I lift my eyes up high, there I find Christ. When in sorrow over my sins and my head is bowed, still I find Christ before me. That is just my own personal experience. There is also the fact that we simply have so many icons of Christ around the house that we would have to put some of them in a drawer for storage if we didn't have them on the wall, and we can't bring ourselves to have them hidden away

John

 

[prodromos]

can you just print an Icon on paper from the internet if you cant afford a fancy one?

A dear friend of ours in Thessaloniki (English convert to Orthodoxy) has approximately half of one of her bedroom walls covered with small icons, many of which are prints. I suspect that her prayer corner has at least 100 icons

John

 

[HandmaidenOfGod]

It is ok to print one, but it is not preferrable. Until the last century the Russian Church completely frowned upon prints of icons being made at all. It has lightened up on its stance on this matter and now allows mounted prints of icons. However, there are things like copyright laws which need to be respected. Icons are not copyrightable, per se, as God is the author of every image. What is copyrightable is the photograph of the particular icon that was painted itself. Thus when I write an icon another person can not take pictures of my icon and sell them or use them for his or her own reasons with out my expressed permission. Most of the time iconographers are pretty cool about allowing people to make a print or 2 of their work, but you need to check with the person whose work it is before you go ahead doing so. Another problem with printing pictures of icons off the internet is that most image files of icons on line are of such poor quality that anything larger than a 5x7 just doesn't do the icon any justice.

For those who say I am overreacting in making this statement I can tell you of a number of times when monks have taken images of living iconographers work and made mounted prints of them and proceeded to sell the work without giving the iconographer any credit for writing the work and without paying the iconographer for using their work.

If I understand you correctly, it's okay if someone can't afford to buy a mounted icon, and does not wish to sell the print, but still desires to have some sort of icon in their home?

 

[HandmaidenOfGod]

can you just print an Icon on paper from the internet if you cant afford a fancy one?

I'll let Michael, Matthew, and Julia address this question, but just as an FYI, you can often get mounted prints of icons for under $20. Many churches sell them, and I would be happy to provide a list of reputable online resources where you can purchase them.

I tell you this because I don't want you to be intimidated by the cost of a hand-written icon and think those are the only "acceptable" icons.

I know of very few people who have hand written icons, and usually if they do, it was because someone gave it to them as a gift. (Hand-written icons make a great wedding present! )

Most people have mounted prints of icons in their home. They are blessed by the priest and used happily.

 

[Michael G]

If I understand you correctly, it's okay if someone can't afford to buy a mounted icon, and does not wish to sell the print, but still desires to have some sort of icon in their home?

It is ok. I just suggest that if one is able to contact the iconographer who wrote the icon they do so just to make sure the iconographer is ok with it. Also, most of the time the quality of the print you are going to make from an internet picture is sub-standard.

What I mostly have a problem with is people attempting to make money off my work without having first payed me for my work. That to me is theft.

 

[Michael G]

I'll let Michael, Matthew, and Julia address this question, but just as an FYI, you can often get mounted prints of icons for under $20. Many churches sell them, and I would be happy to provide a list of reputable online resources where you can purchase them.

I tell you this because I don't want you to be intimidated by the cost of a hand-written icon and think those are the only "acceptable" icons.

I know of very few people who have hand written icons, and usually if they do, it was because someone gave it to them as a gift. (Hand-written icons make a great wedding present! )

Most people have mounted prints of icons in their home. They are blessed by the priest and used happily.

I sell mounted prints of my work for under $10 each.

 

[Michael G]

(Hand-written icons make a great wedding present! )[/FONT]

I am still working on the 2' x 3' icon of the Wedding at Cana which is my wife's wedding gift.

 

[Michael G]

Back to the OP, the bare minimum icons one should have in an icon corner are Christ, the Theotokos and their patron saint.