- Apr 27, 2008
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Every few months a new website pops up selling "high quality icon prints" at a "reasonable price" much to the joy of the faithful. What the faithful don't know is that the mere existence of these sites is destroying the art of iconography. Serious iconographers, for whom this is our life's work and our calling into which we put our heart and soul, simply cannot compete and many of us are on the brink of quitting because there are simply no commissions anymore. Soon the only hand-painted icons will be by Aunt Mary who attended a weekend paint-by-numbers course or the ones massed produced in China (yes, even in Greece they sell hand painted icons from China!)
Even worse many of the icons sold on these sites are stolen. It is hard enough for iconographers to make ends meet without people stealing our work. Most iconographers struggle financially. The owners simply download the icons from google (though their excuse is always that someone gave them the icons and they were told they are free to use them.) They never give credit to the iconographers nor do we receive any royalties. They sometimes claim to have searched for the iconographers but couldn't find them...so they posted the icons anyway. (My icons can only have been downloaded from my own sites where I sell prints and the metadata shows that I am the owner, so that excuse is invalid).
When we try to expose these sites we are inevitably attacked. After all these people are only "trying to make a living" ( from our work) and we are always accused of being "unOrthodox" and "unspiritual" for daring to make a living off our work. Iconographers are expected to live on the Holy Spirit alone, but the scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages." (1Ti 5:18 RSV). And there is the inevitable argument that icons belong to the church not to the iconographer therefore we have no right to make money off them (yet the people running these sites do!). But this is not true. The traditional forms (prototypes) of the icons belong to the Church. The icon painted by the individual iconographer belongs to that iconographer especially when that icon is is not simply a "photocopy" of an older icon and clearly recognizable as the work of a specific iconographer. This is why we know that icons were painted by Panselinos/ Theophanis/ Andrei Rublev etc and they were paid for their work and are given credit where it is due (And as George Kordis has said, when someone simply paints a copy of an old icon they should state that is is a copy of Panselinos/Theophanis etc not "by the hand of so-and-so", and at least give credit to the iconographer who actually painted that icon that they have copied).
So please pray for us iconographers (especially those of us being attacked for exposing the latest site doing this) and before you get excited about the latest site selling "high quality prints at a reasonable price" please consider the consequences for the art of iconography and for us iconographers.
In Christ
Julia
Even worse many of the icons sold on these sites are stolen. It is hard enough for iconographers to make ends meet without people stealing our work. Most iconographers struggle financially. The owners simply download the icons from google (though their excuse is always that someone gave them the icons and they were told they are free to use them.) They never give credit to the iconographers nor do we receive any royalties. They sometimes claim to have searched for the iconographers but couldn't find them...so they posted the icons anyway. (My icons can only have been downloaded from my own sites where I sell prints and the metadata shows that I am the owner, so that excuse is invalid).
When we try to expose these sites we are inevitably attacked. After all these people are only "trying to make a living" ( from our work) and we are always accused of being "unOrthodox" and "unspiritual" for daring to make a living off our work. Iconographers are expected to live on the Holy Spirit alone, but the scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages." (1Ti 5:18 RSV). And there is the inevitable argument that icons belong to the church not to the iconographer therefore we have no right to make money off them (yet the people running these sites do!). But this is not true. The traditional forms (prototypes) of the icons belong to the Church. The icon painted by the individual iconographer belongs to that iconographer especially when that icon is is not simply a "photocopy" of an older icon and clearly recognizable as the work of a specific iconographer. This is why we know that icons were painted by Panselinos/ Theophanis/ Andrei Rublev etc and they were paid for their work and are given credit where it is due (And as George Kordis has said, when someone simply paints a copy of an old icon they should state that is is a copy of Panselinos/Theophanis etc not "by the hand of so-and-so", and at least give credit to the iconographer who actually painted that icon that they have copied).
So please pray for us iconographers (especially those of us being attacked for exposing the latest site doing this) and before you get excited about the latest site selling "high quality prints at a reasonable price" please consider the consequences for the art of iconography and for us iconographers.
In Christ
Julia
