Icons for St. Anthony's Dome, Part 04

Painting the Dome at St. Anthony

Progress continues on the icons. These figures are about 30-36" in diameter, painted on canvas, and the team has nearly completed 5 of them this week. 

I hope these closeup shots convey the detail in the paintings. When they are in place on the walls, they'll be about 20 feet from the nearest viewer.

The dome is also progressing rapidly. The lettering was penciled and painted in one morning. The iconographer is now putting a sealer or varnish on the area of the dome that will be gilded. 

In addition to the figure of Christ, and the lettering, the dark borders are in place, and the decorations in each of the arches have been sketched in.

Meanwhile, back on the floor, work continues on the faces. This angle looking down from the scaffolding gives you a sense of the size and detail visible when the position of the icon and our eyes will be reversed. 

When we came into the temple a few moments ago, this face had no expression or eyes. Now it has both. 

He's using a #4 brush to paint the faces. 

It takes a lot of brushes and paints to do this work. 

The colors are mixed, put into plastic cups or bottles, and used up over the course of a week or less.  A few drops of water will help keep the paint liquid overnight, or longer.