Our Icons
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Created especially for St. Austin Catholic Parish by Nicholas Markell, this icon of St. Augustine of Canterbury contains many symbols of St. Austin which reveal the truth and power of his holy life.Chosen by Pope St. Gregory the Great to be Apostle to the English, Augustine converted King Ethelbert of Kent to Christianity. Tradition holds that they met under an oak tree, the tree associated with the virtue of hospitality in icon painting. Augustine holds in his right hand an oak tree branch with an acorn symbolizing both his own hospitality to others and his opennes to graciously receiving God's life within him. Moreover, the acorn itself represents new life. Just as the acorn grows into the oak, Augustine's efforts in service of the gospel helped establish the English Church which has since grown great in stature, influencing the entire world.
Augustine was named Archbishop of England, the see of which became Canterbury. Augustine is shown with his Bishop's mitre, staff and pallium. The pallium itself is intimately associated with Augustine. It is decorated with five Fitchee crosses which display a pointed base. These crosses were often used by missionares to thrust into the ground for daily devotions. St. Augustine's pallium also appears on his shield, located in the upper left-hand corner of this icon. The shield also contains a black cross, associated with his Benedictine roots, and a lily, symbolic of Augustine's death in May, the month of Mary. In the upper right-hand corner of the icon is the cross of Canterbury.
Augustine himself displays the look of a saintly man, wearing dark vestments on-fire with the life of the spirit. His face bears the weight of shepherding the English church, though his glance is paradozically peaceful and light. His gaze is not only temporal but also eternal, looking towards the Kingdom which was his life's mission and joy.
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Come back for more - we're working on the story of our second icon
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About Icons
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The word icon comes from the Greek word eikon, meaning image. Often referred to as "theology in color" and "doorways to heaven," icons are a form of sacred art, the content of which is spiritual. Iconographers paint, or "write," icons as a visual way of expressing faith. Iconographers incorporate symbols within icons, creating images of restored or renewed creation—transfigured existence made possible through life in Jesus Christ. The images are not meant to be only naturalistic representations, but also "spiritual" portraits where the symbols lead you through the subject's faith story. Thus an iconographer is more a minister than an artisan and an icon more a sacramental than a work of art.
Byzantine-style icons are usually painted on icon boards, made of hardwood or plywood which is covered with a thin layer of fine linen cloth. Up to 15 layers of gesso primer is applied to the linen board, each coat sanded smooth before the next is layed down. This creates a very smooth and absorbent surface on which thin coats of paint are painted in numerous layers.
After the icon's image is sketched or engraved onto the gesso, the iconographer begins by painting base coats of all the dark areas of the icon. Then slowly lighter and lighter areas are added until the icon is complete. This process reflects the spiritual life—a movement from darkness into the light of Christ. Details and highlights that complete the icon are added last.
Gilding with gold leaf is frequently used in iconography as a symbol of divine light radiating from transfigured humanity. Indeed, there is no exterior light source within an icon, the light comes from within the figure, depicting the Christian truth that the light of Christ is an interior light within believers.
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