Paper Icons from the Christian East.

On March 6th the University of Toronto's Art Centre (at 15 King's College Circle) opened the doors to the Paper Icons: Orthodox Religious Engravings exhibit, which will be on display until May 3 1st. This unique North American premiere from the collection of Dory Papastratos, has made its way to us from the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The paper icon engravings (black and white prints taken from woodcuts, copper plates, or lithographs) came into being during times of persecution. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Muslims in 1453 and the collapse of the Byzantine empire, the Orthodox Church in Greece was faced with a hostile religious, administrative and social system. The large monasteries, whose upkeeping depended upon the generosity of the Byzantine emperors and state officials were forced to find new means of sustenance.

Consequently, a new form of expression was born, utilizing a purely western art form--the engraving. Due' to their low cost and ease of circulation, paper icons became a major source of advertisement and fundraising for the monasteries.

Lay individuals sponsored the production of numerous copies of icons and donated them to monasteries and churches as acts of piety and penance. The monasteries then distributed these paper icons to pilgrims as blessings. Certain monasteries (e.g., on Mount Athos and Mount Sinai) prepared the plates, and then Greeks in the diaspora (in Italy, Austria, Poland, etc.) printed them.

The subject matter of the engravings included saints, scenes of miracles, and monasteries. Some engravings were topographical depictions of the monasteries; others told of their history, the legends, or the miraculous icons and relics they owned. As such, they encouraged the faithful to make pilgrimages and to offer their donations to the monasteries depicted.

The earliest engravings, generally woodcuts, date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. However, it was in the 18th and 19th centuries that copper engravings became popular. From Greece the engravings spread to various countries that had spiritual ties to Greek Orthodoxy, such as Serbia, Bulgaria, Rumania, Ukraine, and Russia. Paper icons from the various ethnic communities are represented at the University of Toronto's exhibition.

Let us sample a paper icon. Accomplished with a sense of beauty and proportion, is a highly symbolic Venetian lithograph of the mid-nineteenth century, "The Virgin as the Life-giving Fountain" ("The Virgin Zoodochos Pigi"). our Lord, who is the source of her strength and ours, the Virgin Mary is shown in a marble basin, from which holy water flows out. This icon refers both to the spiritual graces offered by the Mother of God, and to a healing spring near Constantinople. Upon discovery of the miraculous spring, Emperor Leo I (5th century) built a church above it in honour of the Blessed Virgin. A century later, a monastery was founded nearby, and the famous shrine attracted many pilgrims. It was destroyed by the Turks in 1453. The type of the Virgin Mary as "the Lifegiving Fountain" is found in Orthodox iconography from the 14th century onwards.

A collection of simple yet beautiful engravings is displayed at the university's Paper Icons exhibition. The exhibition's collector, the late Dory Papastratos, spent lengthy hours researching and collecting materials. She preserved the humble paper icons from oblivion, and opened up new prospects for academic research and study.

The paper icons, though not as glamorous as the brilliant Byzantine painted icons, represent at once the tragedy of foreign occupation and the tremendous faith of the Orthodox people, who persevered. The pious art continues to inspire and to encourage many to grow in prayer and faith, even today.

Jaroslawa Kisyk is the administrative assistant for Catholic Insight