Threshold of the Invisible World: Russian Icons from the Collection

McKenzie Gallery

24 March 2018

26 July 2020

draft proposal by E. Silbergeld. includes MWRU34:5 - correct - if room allows.
Threshold of the Invisible World:
Russian Icons from the Collection

The Christian icon emerged nearly 2000 years ago out of the traditions of painting and sculpture of the ancient Mediterranean world. It developed through the vicissitudes of the Byzantine Empire and entered the Russian sphere with the conversion of Kievan Rus’ around the tenth century C.E. Depicting saints, angels, Christ, and the Virgin Mary, as well as scenes from scripture, sacred legend, and holy festivals, icons may represent a single individual or complex arrangements of figures, environment, and narrative cycles. These images have been produced in numerous media throughout their history – from fresco to mosaic, to textile, paper manuscript, ivory, and stone – but the most prevalent forms that persist to this day are the portable wood panel and cast metalwork.

An icon (from the Greek εικον / eikon, meaning image) is a holy likeness, understood to be a living image that is accessible, active, and capable of miraculous intercession in the daily life of the believer. At the same time, it also functions as a window or a threshold through which to glimpse the mystery of an invisible world beyond mankind’s rational comprehension, without the limitation of mundane experience. It exists in the liminal space of revelation, where it mediates our experience with the holy presence that cannot be circumscribed. By literally and metaphorically framing this meeting place between the perceptible and the hidden, the icon is intended to orient and facilitate our encounter with the sacred.

This gallery presents highlights from the JSMA’s collection of Russian icons, many of which were donated by museum founder, Gertrude Bass Warner (1863-1951), and subsequently augmented by generous contributions from other donors. Through the years, this collection has benefitted from the attention of many, including Professor A. Dean McKenzie (1930-2017) and his wife Lucile, who graciously helped to establish this gallery. Grateful acknowledgment is also owed to Jody Seasonwein (Clark Honors College), Heghine Hakobyan (Slavic Librarian), and Anastasia Savenko-Moore (2015 Master’s graduate of the Department of Russian, East European, and Eurasion Studies) for their work on the 2016 exhibition Splendor and Light, upon which this rotation expands.

Emily Silbergeld,
Post-graduate intern/volunteer