ON TEMPORARY DISPLAY IN LONDON, THESE VERY RARE ICONS FROM ST CATHERINE'S MONASTERY IN SINAI ARE AN ENDURING TESTAMENT TO THE GRACE, BEAUTY AND POWER OF THE NUMINOUS.

The historic Greek Orthodox monastery of St Catherine on Mount Sinai in Egypt is the oldest monastery in the world. The sacred desert site is the object of pilgrimage for Christians, Muslims and Jews, who come to visit its holy places, notably the Burning Bush and the summit of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the tablets of the Law. The present buildings and church were constructed in the sixth century, at the instigation of the Byzantine emperor Justinian. Built as a martyrium around the site of the Burning Bush, the church has maintained a tradition of prayer, worship and contemplation since that time. During the tenth century, relics of the Alexandrian martyr St. Catherine were brought to the monastery, attracting streams of pilgrims and travellers. During the eleventh century, a mosque was constructed inside the monastery walls, so it came to exert a profound influence over the entire region.

St Catherine's remains one of the most charismatic places in the religious world and its sacred character has been intensified by the presence of over 2000 icons, either produced on site by itinerant artists (some of whom stayed on to become monks), or sent as gifts from elsewhere. Dating from the sixth century, these treasures escaped destruction during the period of iconoclasm in the eighth and ninth centuries, because of the monastery's geographical isolation. Iconoclasm ended with the triumph of Orthodoxy, which established icons as a key element of the true Orthodox Church. As religious objects, icons became a particular focus of prayer, veneration and the symbolic expression of Christian belief. And as monks became increasingly important in Byzantine society, both in cities and in the wilderness, monasteries and their patrons played a pivotal role in the evolution of the painted panel. This led, eventually, to the development of the modern Orthodox iconostasis or screen of icons used to demarcate the a ltar from the nave.

This winter, 10 icons from St Catherine's were on display at London's Courtauld Institute in a small yet exquisite exhibition that originally formed part of a much larger survey of icon art staged at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. Never before had the paintings left the confines of the monastery, so it was a chance to contemplate works of great rarity and beauty. Included were an elaborate rendition of the martyrdom, of St Catherine, which was placed over her relics at the monastery, and two icons that marked the special holy sites of Mount Sinai: Moses receiving the Law and the prophet Elijah being fed by a raven during his flight through the wilderness (both shown here, together with St Michael the Archangel). In the sepulchral light of the exhibition, the icons' gold backgrounds glowed with a stunning intensity, as if lit from within, a reminder of the enduring grace and power of the numinous.