Orthodox (Gregorian) Christmas arrives a couple weeks after Julian Christmas on account of a fourteen-day mismatch between their respective calendars. Celebrating both holidays means gaining an extra feast day and likely some winter weight as well.
This is the final version of my Nativity icon, which I had finished much earlier back in 2015. I realized recently that I had simply forgotten to show it on JSVB, although this version and the last iteration are practically identical. The only difference is sealant, which eliminates a couple of small artefacts with the colours.
This version ended up being Christmas cards this season, which I also forgot to show on JSVB. I sold out my print run before I had realized that I was missing a blurb for them on my blog. I'll make some more and offer them for sale later.
The orthodox icons aren't intended to show a realistic version of biblical events. Rather, they are a very impressionistic view that strives to show the virtue of the subject but not the emotion. The figures and the scenery become extremely stylized so that it's possible for the viewer to fill in the empathetic details with their own imagination and understanding.
Posts
