The art of Holy painting
She works with 22 carat gold. Working with a piece of carved wood, she layers it with a white stucco like substance on gauze, then glues on the gold. Lots of gold. Then the classic figures of Byzantine art appear, Panageia (Mary) with Baby Jesus, the various saints, Jesus himself. All in the classic, 2D, slightly wooden style of Byzantine art. But the images, painted in primary colors in tempera, red, green and blue, highlighted with gold, are brilliant and seem to shine.
We are visiting Vasiliki, or Vasos, as introduced by a good friend, Kiriakos. Vasos has been icon painting for years and now teaches Kiriakos’ wife, Cornelia. She lives in one of those multi storeyed modern buildings seen everywhere in Thessaloniki. Although the building is unremarkable from the outside, Vasos welcomes us inside an apartment where every surface is covered with Byzantine style paintings, the brilliant colors lighting up the antique furniture. She even has paintings behind the gas range!
After the requisite welcome of Greek coffee, we are shown the studio, where paintings are in various stages of completion, painted on wood of different shapes and sizes, all with the requisite gold leaf. Adorning the walls are also “faiyum”, Egyptian portraits of the dead from the Roman times. Against the stylized Byzantine icons, these soulful images are startlingly alive.
We finally decide on an icon over a pomegranate liqueur. In our current living room, the icon lights up beautifully in the morning light. Devoid of any religious leanings, the icon envelops and holds all of our memories over the past 3 years spent in this beautiful Byzantine city.