Unexpected Joy!

I hope that no one will be offended by my offering a religious icon tonight. I spent the afternoon at home and was amazed all over again by this icon and the clarity and detail I was able to capture with a new camera.

I had gotten an Olympus camera few months ago that had good specs but didn't like it at all and returned it. But after reading Lady Marchmont's saga... I couldn't afford the model she got so I ordered the "Lite" version of it!!! Wow! It just takes amazing images. I will be selling a bunch of cameras to be able to keep it!

The icon is Russian, from the mid to late 19th C. It is overlaid with a silver and brass oklad. A very dear friend who is an Orthodox pastor and also an artist and icon painter (or "writer") restored the icon for me and had the oklad replated.. Because of his involvement, it has become even more special to me.

For Orthodox Christians, an icon isn't just a painting or a piece of artwork, but is a prayer, a sacrament, a window into heaven. But if that is not your belief and I doubt it is because Orthodoxy isn't prevalent in the West, I hope you will enjoy it as a beautiful artifact.

The subject is quite rare. It tells the story of a notorious robber who was converted and his repentance brought "Unexpected Joy" to everyone involved.

Notice the awesome detail in the building above him with the three windows, the folds of the curtains, the brickwork, etc and also the elaborate detail in the Virgin's halo and in the border. In the lower right, under the Virgin and child, is the beginning paragraph of the story in Russian.

I got the icon from a shop in Pennsylvania. They had another one of the same subject that I wanted but it was sold while I was still waffling about whether to order it. So I got this one instead and at first I was disappointed, but now I look at the picture of the one I "lost" and I am so glad this is the one I have. To me, it is a real treasure.