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SACRED ICONS by Aidan Hart
This text is from a catalogue of an exhibition of new and old icons. It explains the basic theology and use of icons for a readership unacquainted with them.
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ICONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY by Aidan Hart
This is a talk given in 2000. It gives an overview of the situation at the turn of the century, and describes the contribution made by key twentieth century iconographers in reviving the traditional iconographic style. It then discusses some of the challenges facing iconographers in the coming decades.
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CELTIC, ANGLO-SAXON AND ROMANESQUE ICONOGRAPHY by Aidan Hart
This is a talk given in 1997 to an Orthodox arts group. Its premise is that the icon tradition is a living rather than a copyist’s one, and as such it responds to the culture from which it arises. As a basis for the natural development of iconography in the west this article traces the main influences which produced three of the main iconographic traditions of western Europe, namely the Celtic, Anglo Saxon and Romanesque.
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CHRISTIANITY AND SACRED ART TODAY by Aidan Hart
A talk given at Hillsdale College, USA, in 2005. It identifies the main features of the icon tradition and then discusses how contemporary art can be renewed if it returns to the role of art as mediator between a higher, divine realm and our own.
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TRANSFIGURING MATTER - ICONS AS A PARADIGM OF CHRISTIAN ECOLOGY by Aidan Hart
A talk given in Oxford in 1998. It discusses how the making and use of icons reveals the Orthodox Church’s understanding of how we were intended to relate to the material world. The talk considers this using “the classical images of prophet, king and priest. Another way of expressing these roles is to say that we were created to be the poets, artists and musical conductors of the cosmos.”
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ICONOGRAPHY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY by Aidan Hart
Two consecutive talks given in 2005 at Cambridge. The first briefly discusses the spiritual and practical challenges facing iconography (and church architecture) in the 21st century e.g. we have unprecedented access to icons through books and travel, but how do we digest this plethora of information? The second states: “If the Orthodox Church is to fulfil its calling in the twenty-first century it must gain prophetical, intelligent, sympathetic insight into the art and culture of the West.” It suggests ways certain non-liturgical art can reflect spiritual truth.
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ICONS AND THE MATERIAL WORLD by Aidan Hart
This talk given in Iona, Scotland, outlines the role in our spiritual life played by the material world and our bodies. It begins with life in paradise before the fall and passes through all the great salvific events, showing how these affected the cosmos and our relationship with it.
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THE ICON AND PASTORAL CARE by Aidan Hart
This article discusses the healing role of icons in our times. Drawing mainly from personally known instances of blessing and healing brought to people through icons, the article shows how these sacred images can help us pass from being isolated individuals to becoming persons in relationship with God, one another, and the world around.
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THE SACRED IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE: TIMELESS PRINCIPLES AND CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES by Aidan Hart
This talk given in Cambridge in 2005 outlines some of the fundamental principles of sacred art and architecture; without understanding these sacred art descends into mere copying. The article then goes on to discuss ways in which non-liturgical art - “gallery art” - can, at its best, overlap with many of the aims of overtly sacred art. It then outlines some of the challenges that face contemporary art, both sacred and secular.
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CHURCH WALL PAINTINGS AND MOSAICS: PRINCIPLES OF THEIR ARRANGEMENT AND RELATIONSHIP TO ARCHITECTURE by Aidan Hart
A seminar given in 2003 in London, this shows how wall paintings, as with all genuine sacred art, forms part of a seamless liturgical whole, particularly in this case with the church’s architecture. It shows how different parts of a traditional church are ideally suited for particular scenes and personages.
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CONSTANTIN BRANCUSI by Aidan Hart
An article printed in Second Spring. Brancusi, a Rumanian, is considered the founder of modern abstract sculpture. This article discusses the influences of his Orthodox roots on his sculpture and thought.
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NEW ART: OLD ICONS by Aidan Hart
A lecture given at the Shrewsbury Art Gallery and Museum, 2003. In contrast to Post-modernism, most early modern art was an attempt to return art to its spiritual roots. The talk identifies general characteristics of the icon which can inspire a renewal of the spiritual in art, chiefly that art can mediate between ourselves and a higher realm.
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ICONS AND MODERN ART by Aidan Hart
Notes for a talk at Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury, 2004. A brief assessment of Western art movements from the point of view of the philosophy behind the icon. Ends with quotes from a number of leading 20th century artists showing the spiritual basis of their work.
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INTERVIEW BY DAVID CLAYTON by Aidan Hart
A brief interview which formed the basis of an article in The Tablet, on creativity in iconography and what the tradition might say to Western art.
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THE ICON AND ART by Aidan Hart
A talk given at the School of Economic Science, Waterperry, Oxford, 7 March, 2000. Describes the theology and stylistic features of the icon, and then suggests two forms of art - threshold art and the art of compassion - which though not liturgical in their function nevertheless share many of the icon’s aims.
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THE ICON AND THE HUMAN PERSON by Aidan Hart
This article (a talk given at Iona, Scotland in 2000) considers what it means to be in God’s image.
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WHERE ARE WE GOING: A SPIRITUAL ANATOMY by Aidan Hart
This outlines the three stages of the spiritual journey, describes the various faculties of the human person, and finally, the basic elements of how temptations come to us and how we can rebuff them.
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ICONS AND MODERNITY by Aidan Hart
This describes the main elements of the icon tradition, highlighting those which cast some light on modern art. It identifies the chief elements in two early modernists, Brancusi and Matisse, which accord with the icon tradition.
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A HISTORY OF THE EARLY CHURCH OF THE BRITISH ISLES by Aidan Hart
This thirty-one page article tells the story of the church in the British Isles for the first thousand years after Christ. It draws on contemporary sources, archaeological discoveries, and modern scholarship.
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SAINT THEODORE OF TARSUS: ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY by Aidan Hart
This remarkable man was a Greek from Tarsus of Cilicia, almost certainly studied in Antioch and Constantinople, later lived as a monk in Rome where he was probably involved with Saint Maximus the Confessor in the Lateran Council, and eventually became one of the most important Archbishops of Canterbury .
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GILDING TECHNIQUES by Aidan Hart
A detailed description of the techniques and materials needed for water gilding, oil mordant gilding and assist...
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THE PAIN OF THE EARTH by Aidan Hart
A talk given in Minsk, Belarus, May 2001, at the European Council of Churches’ Christian Environmental Network Conference. This is an outline of Orthodox theology as it reflects on ecology. If we are acting wrongly in our relationship to the earth, it is because we are thinking wrongly.
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PROGRAMMES AND TAPES
Below are given links to radio interviews involving Aidan, which you can download and listen to, and also details of tapes of talks he has given that can be bought.
