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are our icons expensive?
not a very important question, but i saw that russian and antiochian icons are really expensive, and i think greek ones too. i mean proper icons like for the church, not pictures (soora). the russian ones are hundreds of dollars.
i can't imagine our icons are so expensive, but as i only have pictures at home, and these were gifts, i don't know. a friend of mine writes icons but he does it for the church, as far as i know he didn't sell them.
does anyone know how much they cost in egypt/sudan?
i can't imagine our icons are so expensive, but as i only have pictures at home, and these were gifts, i don't know. a friend of mine writes icons but he does it for the church, as far as i know he didn't sell them.
does anyone know how much they cost in egypt/sudan?
Comments
I remember for the regular sized icons (24' by 12') prices can go up to 3-4000 dollars... it depends on who wrote it... and where is he/she are writing the icon!
for example if a person is in Egypt, if they charge 1000 pounds it would be around $150... but if you buy an Icon written by Dr. Isaac Fanous (may God rest his soul) it easily used to go in the thousands! (when I talk about icons I'm talking about written ones... not copies)
I don't believe much in selling icons... but if it is your main job, then there is not much that can be done, and you have to charge for your writings!
and again I write an icon here or there, never did a whole church, WHICH IS A LOT OF WORK!!! so then I would probably charge, because it would be my main job!
akhadna el baraka... neshkor Allah!
thanks 4 yr answers :)
does that mean write the coptic font that's on icons ?
thank you ! (:
actually if i myself painted or wrote an icon of saint mark, it would come out as a stick man with curly hair, as my artistic skills failed to develop after i was 4 years old! so i will leave it to the experts! ;D
while on the other hand I can write an icon saying all of this!
she is the ever true queen... as I would have her sit on the right of Christ
she is the mother of God... as she carries Christ
she is the second heaven... as I would dress her in blue
she was obedient, and humble... she listened much and didnt speak much... with small mouth, and big ears
she is living in the eternal heaven... by having a gold background... which is eternal richness, with no end!
she is a virgin before after and during the life of Christ... by having three stars two one her shoulders and one on her head!
these are all small symbols there is much more... especially when I get creative, I put so much in a small icon... plus I go more to the older coptic style... so my icons usually will have a few things that are small but will mean a lot of things...
also there is a lot of meaning in everything in the icon... like for example an icon i posted here before of saint Onoferious (abu nofer) in my icon instead of him holding a paper saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." I had him hold his hand out as if he's saying it is enough... or a sign of content... and in the other hand he's holding a date (the fruit)... and as we know saint abu nofer lived on dates... so that's all he needed to live for food... and was too thankful for small dates to live his life!
also remember back in the days, not many people knew how to read... so they would go to the church, and look around and there were all these stories that were written in art and they would read it! thus an icon is written not just painted...
also when coming to write an icon, the iconographer has to follow many rules, like painting from dark to light... as Christ took us from the darkness to light... there are prayers, that needs to be said... there is fasting, research about the saint or the topic... there are color meanings... and everyone needs to have the same face... as I mentioned before if you take the icon of saint Mary and add a beard, you will have the face of Christ... and that is because through these saints we see Christ!
I love icons if you cant see that already... forgive me for over talking about it!
akhadna el baraka... neshkor Allah!
150 dollars is a lot cheaper than the ones i saw in moscow airport. i suppose the price varies from place to place. i met an antiochian priest who complained they were too expensive, so i guess i should send him to egypt!
thanks 4 yr answers :)
Because the ones at the Moscow airport were most likely not hand painted but were mounted prints which are fairly cheap and easy to make and sell so they can be produced in many numbers so any faithful can purchase them. Some good places for mounted icons that I buy from is the St. Isaac of Syria Skete or Holy Transfiguration Monastery (both EO sources though Holy Transfiguration is not in communion with any of the EO patriarchates since it is Old Calendarist) which both have excellent quality icons for sale for good prices.
andrew (i hope you don't mind me shortening your 'name'!) in which country were the monasteries you mention?
superman(bam),
i'm so glad u write icons and not me! ;)
thanks all for your answers.
andrew (i hope you don't mind me shortening your 'name'!) in which country were the monasteries you mention?
Andrew is my name, the numbers after are just the digits of my birthday that I use as a screename. So, no problem at all.
Both of those monasteries are in the US.