" i k o n o d u l "
Ikon - gr. εἰκών, eikṓn - image
Dulia - gr. δουλεία, douleia - veneration
Martin Rybacki is a Christian Orthodox icon painter, visual artist and illustrator. He lives and works near Fulda, Germany.
All the icons illustrated are by the author's hand (a.d.H.v.), painted with egg tempera on wooden boards primed with gesso made from rabbit skin glue and chalk. Natural pigments are used (in certain exceptions also artificial), as well as 22 carat transfer gold for special requests. After drying time of up to four months, the icon is sealed with dammar varnish.
If you would like to commission your own icon or purchase an existing one from the website, please contact us.
In the icon heaven and earth meet
Tradition, skillful craftsmanship and the personality of the artist are in fruitful dialogue. The purpose of an icon is to support the relationship with God in prayer, to remind us of the saving work of Christ and the calling of man to become holy, to promote beauty and to rightly proclaim the objective truth of God's incarnation. If the icon fulfills this in a good way, then we have a successful icon before us.
Declaration of the synod of Constantinople 843
“We define that the holy icons, whether in colour, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people.
Whenever these representations are contemplated, they will cause those who look at them to commemorate and love their prototype. We define also that they should be kissed and that they are an object of veneration and honour, but not of real worship, which is reserved for Him Who is the subject of our faith and is proper for the divine nature. The veneration accorded to an icon is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he who venerates the icon, venerated in it the reality for which it stands”.
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