The Meaning of Icons

St Vladimirs Seminary Press, March 1997. Hardcover. New. For many reasons, this is the finest single book on the nature of the icon and its role in the life and worship of the Orthodox Church. First published in German and English in 1952 and now in its fifth printing, it was a pioneer publication and is the standard by which we measure all other books in the field. The icons chosen for inclusion and the text that accompanies them were the work of two of the finest Orthodox theologians of the century. Leonid Ouspensky (<i>The Theology of the Icon</i>) and Vladimir Lossky (<i>The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church</i>). The articles that form the introductory section are nearly substantial enough to be published separately: Vladimir Lossky's ''Tradition and Traditions'' is an academy-caliber theological meditation on the nature of Tradition and the icon's integral role within it, and Leonid Ouspensky's ''Meaning and Language of Icons'' and ''Technique of Iconography'' trace the historical development of iconography and answers many common questions about the symbolic language incorporated in icons. The main body of the work follows, consisting of full-color reproductions of 51 icons, accompanied by explanations by our two authors. Participants, rather than observers, in the iconic dimension of the Tradition, they lead us as far as words can take us into the grace conveyed by these ''images of the Image'' of God.