Remarking on the reference that the Oklahoma Exhibition apparently made about their inclusion in their exhibition of the common, plain or "Late Icons" : Russian icons and iconography can be very mysterious things. "They do not necessarily reveal their inner beauty to everyone instantly," was a quote from an earlier exhibition that I attended elsewhere. Everyone expects to see and gawk at the bejewelled and pearled ones that were made for the Imperials, but the common, everyday ones of chromolithography on wood or the simple "folk" ones painted within the recess of its "shrine," (No, I am not speaking of a "kiot"), can be just as evocative in their sanctity of devotion and adoraton by the common people. I have personally seen many, many icon examples from the Moscow Kremlin complex, to Saint Petersburg, and to the oblast of Yaroslavl, where at least three schools of new icon painting are established to recreate and repair. Many of the older ones are now refreshed or painted anew on their older boards, because of the wear by years of handling, kisses of the faithful and the smoldering flames kept before them. I have attended service in Russia with icons in the very small churches, with the priest in full vestments and a choir, even if it's just 4 nuns. These older and simpler icons were just as meaningful as if they had been by Faberge. Over the years , I have assembled a collection of 19th and early 20th century examples of the so-called "Late Icons," that bear primarily export papers via London (many from St. Petersburg and surrounding area, via Estonia and then London). Recently I and a member of my family presented a late 19th century/early 20th century example, "Christ, Ruler of ther World,"with its original painting, riza, and goldleaf frame to a quite small Russian Orthodox Church nearby, which did not have an early original example. I was delighted to see the faces of the congregational representatives, which include remarkably few younger members, receiving the icon "home." I rather suspect that we shall in time donate more. AP
