The Meaning of Icons (English and German Edition)

I am an Orthodox priest in the United States, and I bought this book to use as a reference to teach catechumens and inquirers about Orthodox iconography. It contained exactly what I hoped for: large, full-page pictures of the most common icons in the Orthodox Church and several pages of text explaining the details of each icon and connecting it to the theology and hymnography of the Church. If you want to learn about almost any icon, what it means and where it fits into the big picture of Orthodoxy, buy this book.

This is a must for anyone interested in understanding iconography and the theology as well as the meaning behind it. This book along with Ouspensky’s “theology of Icons” will give a clear understanding of Eastern Orthodox iconography. This is not a just read book but a study book for your enrichment. The book arrived in good condition and within the timeframe they promised.

This book invites readers with and without knowledge of icons. Its size, method, and delivery resemble art books at twice the cost. Initial publication date in 1952 occurred when both authors had achieved mature productivity as icon writer (Ouspensky) and theologian (Lossky) while ex-patriots in Paris. Sampling of Russian icons in this text from the 16th-century forward revealed many treasures of late Byzantium reinterpreted by Christian faith in Russia. Many of these icons might have been erased by time or ideologues had the authors' combined experience and memory not captured them here.But the book is more than archeological artifact. It cannot be dismissed as a preservationist project. Rather, faith and icon extend a splendid view of the new world transformed by the likeness of the heavenly Creator. Spectacular views of the new world await in what I consider a master-text by Ouspensky and Lossky.

Nothing it was a perfect book

This is a great classic for those who wish to know more about icons, their writers, styles and other information. This is not a "sit and read" casual book for enjoyment, (although it is if you are in iconography) but a serious and reverential study of icons by a well renowned scholar and Orthodox believer.

I ordered this for an on-line class, and we haven't begun to use it yet. I did leaf through the book, and it appears to be a good exposition on icons, and contains a good number of them in color, as well as on the cover. It was in good shape, as described, and arrived in a timely fashion.

This is a good book for those interested in either learning about or 'writing' icons. There is a lot of detail and the instructions are clear.

Beautiful book in hard bound edition!!!! Great information that is very authentic too.

without reading this ground work one simply cannot have sufficient knowledge on the subject of iconography. After reading or rather studying the content a whole new dimension opens up in the path of understanding.Thanks to the publisher.

This book is very detailed and is ideal for someone who wants to learn more about the theology of Iconography. The reason why I am not giving it 5 stars is because the theology essay at the beginning is quite hard to read and I think too detailed for this book, the linguistic tone is too academic. All of the Russians are russian style so so if you are looking for information on Byzantine icons you will be disappointed. It doesn't explain how an icon is written so may be disappointing for someone who wants to learn more, I am not interested in becoming an iconographer so it was not an issue for me. In summary, it is a fantastic book to read and I've learned a lot about iconography, I highly recommend it.

I learnt a lot

This book came in very good condition.Looks very interesting, but want to expand my basic knowledge further, before starting with this book.It has absolutely not to be anxious that it comes under the dust.Paul

This was a present for a friend who is studding iconography and she told me that book was fantastic