Paintings Are From One of the Worlds Largest Collections Outside Russia

Saint Paraskevi

LAKELAND, Fla. (Jan. 18, 2010) Beginning Feb. 2, Florida Southern Colleges Melvin Gallery will be host to a rare collection of Russian icons from the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Mass. The exhibition, Sacred Visions Masterworks from the Museum of Russian Icons, includes venerated works spanning nearly six centuries.

This collection of sublimely beautiful and spiritually moving paintings was assembled by Massachusetts industrialist Gordon Lankton, who will be present at the opening of the FSC exhibit. A gallery talk is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the Anne MacGregor Jenkins Recital Hall. The public is invited.

The Museum of Russian Icons was founded in 2006 as a nonprofit educational institution. Its collection includes more than 400 Russian icons, the largest collection of its kind in North America and one of the largest collections outside Russia. The collection includes important historical paintings dating from the earliest periods of icon writing to the present.

The 25 icons that will be exhibited at Florida Southern range from a painting of St. George slaying the dragon from about 1590 to a painting of St. John the Baptist from 2005. There are several 18th century paintings of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of Russia. Also, several paintings depict the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child in a type of icon known as Hodigitria (Greek for Directress), in which Mary points toward Christ to show the way to salvation.

The Russian-Byzantine tradition of icon painting incorporates ancient traditions in both symbolism and composition that strive to achieve an imagery that is deeply reverent. Icons were created by religious artists according to strict standards established by the church; in most cases, the icons were blessed by a priest. Orthodox religions claimed that in many cases, the images were inspired by God, or even created directly by saints. Luke the Apostle is considered to have been the first iconographer.

Sacred Visions Masterworks from the Museum of Russian Icons runs through Feb. 26. The Melvin Gallery is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday when the College is in session, as well as during selected events of the Festival of Fine Arts series.