The rich tradition of Eastern Christian spirituality and imagery will be celebrated at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. The exhibition will explain the origins of icons, exploring their meaning to communities who create and venerate them and their impact on cultures who have come in contact with them, giving the visitor insights into their extraordinary power to sustain and shape belief in different times and contexts, sometimes against significant odds.
Most of the icons in the show originate from Greece and Russia with examples as well from Cyprus, Syria and Palestine, and range in time from the twelfth to the beginning of the nineteenth centuries.
Art Gallery of Ballarat
Until 26 January, 2015
Victoria
Unknown artist, Nativity of the Mother of God, Greece, Circa 1500, egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on linen over wood, 26.5 x 22cm
Courtesy private collection, Sydney
