A new icon of All Saints of North America

A sketch for a new icon of All Saints of North America. 

In January, the Orthodox Church in America called for proposals for a new icon of All Saints of America to include a "deisis" of the Lord, flanked by his Mother and St. John the Baptist, and surrounded by all the glorified saints who have shone forth in North America.  This sketch was my proposal. Although Metropolitan Tikhon chose another direction, I would love to realize this icon. Please message me if you are interested in commissioning this icon.

This icon presents our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ enthroned, flanked by His most pure and all-holy Mother, and the Holy Prophet Forerunner and Baptist John supplicating Him. The Lord of Glory is surrounded by the four Living Creatures, who also symbolize the four evangelists, holding scrolls which say “Holy. Holy. Holy.”

Around the central panel are nineteen glorified saints who have shown forth in North America. The order of the saints, as well as their specific epithets, are up to discussion with the patron. In my sketch, I have presented them in this way: (top row, left to right) Saint Tikhon, Saint Olga, Saint Herman, Saint Peter the Aleut, Saint Innocent, (left column, top to bottom) Saint John of San Francisco, Saint Nikolai, Saint Varnava of Indiana, Saint John Kochurov of Chicago, (right column, top to bottom) Saint Raphael, Saint Mardarije, Saint Seraphim of Uglich, Saint Alexander Hotovitzky, (bottom row, left to right) Saint Juvenaly, Saint Jacob Netsvetov, Saint Alexis Toth, Saint Alexis (Kabaliuk), Saint Sebastian (Dabovich), and Saint Vasily Martysz.

The icon will be painted in traditional egg tempera with natural mineral pigments. The background will be fully gilded in 23k gold leaf. The panel will have a double kovcheg: the thin outermost border will be raised above the zone with the saints, and the central zone of the Deesis will be recessed further.

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