My sincere thanks to Jonathan Pageau at the Orthodox Arts Journal, http://www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/, for permission to repost his wonderful presentation of the sacred icon miniatures of Russian artist Evgeny Baranov and the spectacular icon wood carvings by Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov.
We must take care when we paint/”write” large icons, yet, to complete an icon miniature or a wood carving, with such grace and spiritual truth, demands in my humble opinion, even more skill and patience! Enjoy, and be filled with astonishment!
To see all of Baranov’s miniatures please visit their site:www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/miniature-icons-by-evgeny-baranov/ .
To see the lovely icon wood carvings of the Asbuhanov’s please take a look at the last two images in this post, if you would like to see all of their work please visit this site: /www.orthodoxartsjournal.org/the-russian-master-icon-carvers/
Miniature Icons by Evgeny Baranov and Russian Master Icon Carvers
Here are some of the most astounding miniature icons I have seen. They are made by a Russian artisan named Evgeny Baranov who is also a very good goldsmith as you will see below. These pictures were taken from his facebook page. I have been trying to get a short interview with some more details, and my lack of Russian seems to stand in the way… but really, the work stands on its own.
Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov are a Russian couple who are leading the rediscovery of icon carving in the Russian Church. Their works grace the collections of Russian politicians from Gorbachev to Putin, European royal families and church authorities from the Russian Patriarch to the Pope of Rome.
Their works are often large and highly detailed, like wooden lace as they include much chip carving into the patterns of clothing, backgrounds and frames. There is a certain folk aspect to their work, especially in some of the faces which do not follow the more usual formal tradition of icon carving but are often effective nonetheless. They recently had a show of their work in Moscow and so I thought it a good opportunity to put up some of their icons.
Despite their great success, they are warm and quite generous, just like their carvings.
More pictures can be found on their website: http://www.azbuhanov.ru/
Here also is a detailed article on their recent Moscow show.
[The first five images below are the work of Evgeny Baranov and the last two wood carvings are the work of Rashid and Inessa Azbuhanov.]
The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art 
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