Our Most Holy Mother of God

Title: "Our Most Holy Mother of God" 1996
Media: Oil and 23kt embossed gold on canvas.
Size: 24" x 36" (60cm x 90cm)
Iconographer: Paul Boyce
Larger view

This icon is one of the most well-known and universally recognized icons in the Orthodox Church.

One purpose of this icon is to glorify the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. In Orthodox hymnology, she is reverently said to be "surrounded with divine grace, shining with holiness, beautiful among women, who amazed the archangel with the brilliance of purity."

The viewer is immediately drawn to the expression on her face. Here we find the virtues of love, wisdom and caring. She has abudant inner strength and provides comfort to us. As a mother, we also find an expression of her love and concern for the Child Jesus.

Together with us, she contemplates the mystery of God that became man within her. She holds the Child without hugging Him, instead holding Him sacredly.

She is at once a mother and the Mother of God. She treats the Child not as the baby Jesus, but as the Incarnate Son of God. With infinite generosity and love for us, she presents the Son to us for our salvation and life everlasting.

Jesus is depicted both as a man and as a child. As the Pantocrator (Ruler of All), he graciously blesses us with His right hand. In the left hand, He holds a scroll, unfolded over the knee. From a passage in the Akathist Hymn, Christ proclaims:

In the face we find His godlike nature. He is at once man, child and God Almighty. Through the Mother, He reveals himself to us as the Son of God and the Son of Man.

The halo surrounding the head bears a cross containing the letters I AM, expressing the name of God, "I AM" (Exodus 3:14).

Additional Information

This icon was painted over a period of 18 months. It was completed and subsequently blessed by Father George Stephanides of Holy Memory on Holy Thursday 1996.

This icon was inspired from a miraculous Mother of God icon residing in the Kiev-Pechersky Russian Orthodox Church. The overall composition has been known on mosaic icons on Cyprus as early as the beginning of the seventh century.

The intricate 23 kt gold background work, embossed with a Byzantine cross pattern, is a technique created by the artist and is believed unique to stretched canvas. Also designed by the artist for his icons is a beautiful and inspiring typeface called Narthex. This typeface was used in the depicted Akathist Hymn passage.