UKRAINIAN ICONS IN FRANCE

 

Like all major events in the world- good  or evil- we tend to loose interest when they drag on and on- Is this the case for  the peoples of the Ukraine, as the invasion of their homeland seems to have no end?  I know for us in the monastery we daily pray for them, as I know others do.  But as the news is less and less, we wonder how the people are really doing?  What of the millions, especially women and children, who are refugees in foreign countries?

What has happened to some of Ukraine’s treasured art? We know a lot of it has been stored in cities in the western part of the country, but last year the Louvre in Paris began a plan to secretly remove 16 artworks from that country, far from the war raging in eastern Europe and out of reach of Russian bombs. 

The art works traveled via Poland and Germany and five are now being displayed in the Louvre, which is the world’s most visited museum. “ The Origins of the Sacred Image"will be on view through November of this year and then will be stored till they can be safely returned to their country of origin..

The artworks, from museums in Kyiv and Varvara, while hidden, were too close to becoming lost due to Russian missile attacks, so it was decided to remove what could safely be transported in specially made air-conditioned boxes under military escort.

Of the other 11 works, 9 are currently at the Louvre Conservation Center in Liévin, a city about 100 miles north of Paris, and the 2 others are in storage awaiting scientific analysis. Following the exhibition, the Louvre plans to perform an in-depth analysis of the works. 

The five pieces on view are all sacred Byzantine icons: Four are encaustic paintings, which is a form of painting where the paint is mixed with hot liquid wax. They are painted on wood from Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai and date to the sixth and seventh centuries. The fifth icon is a micro-mosaic (where tiny multi-colored stones are used to create image) of Saint Nicholas in a stunning gold frame from Constantinople that dates to the late 13th or early 14th century. 

These art pieces are  extremely rare as they survived the destruction of icons that took place in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries. There  may be only a dozen left in the world today, including the four that are now at the Louvre. So they are not just treasure of the Ukrainians  but to all the art world heritage.

This operation, unprecedented in character and scope, demonstrated France’s unwavering support for Ukrainian culture professionals, who demonstrate extraordinary energy and creativity on a daily basis in coping with the consequences of the war.

Icons: Top-  Sts Sergius and Bacchus were fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers revered as martyrs and military saints.  The close friendship between the two is strongly emphasized in their hagiographies and traditions, making them one of the most famous examples of paired saints.

Right- St. Nicholas