The Maryhill Museum of Art near Goldendale, Washington, has a gallery displaying Holy Icons of the Orthodox Church. Religious icons are a way of making visible religious concepts. The symbols used in the Orthodox icons are intended to direct the hearts and minds of the people with God. Icons make the mysteries of Christianity visible. According to the Museum display:
“Icons are not merely decorative religious paintings but sacred objects that connect people to the figures they portray.”
In 787 CE, the Seventh Ecumenical Council that icons are not idols and that they are not to be worshiped. According to the Museum display:
“Icons play a vital role in both liturgical practice and private devotions. In Orthodox churches, they typically appear on a screen at the front of the nave that separates the sanctuary (altar area) from the parishioners. In addition to the sanctuary interior, icons are also displayed on walls and special stands throughout the nave and narthex. There they receive the veneration of worshippers.”
Shown above is an eighteenth-century icon showing St. John the Forerunner.
Shown above is a nineteenth-century Paschal (Easter) Icon with Great Feasts. The center of the icon shows the resurrection of Christ and the twelve scenes around the perimeter show the Great Feasts of the Eastern Orthodox year.
Shown above is a late nineteenth-century Quadripartite Icon with Crucifixion.
Shown above is a late nineteenth-century Quadripartite Icon with Mandylion.
Shown above is Icon with Three Saints. This dates to the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. The saints are: St. Barbara, St. Seraphim, and St. John of Damascus.
Shown above is an eighteenth-century Reliquary Cross. This hollow silver cross covers a plain wooden cross with six holes containing holy relics sealed in wax.
Shown above is Quadripartite Icon with Crucifixion Ivan Petrov made in 1897.
Shown above is Mother of God, Joy of All Who Suffer, made in the nineteenth century. This image was used as protection against all kinds of illness.
Shown above is a nineteenth century Quadripartite Icon with Crucifixion.