Icon and restoration studio
Icons on wooden panels, gilded and painted by hand according to the iconographic canon. Each is made to order, from the first layer of ground to the final highlights on the faces. The studio also restores paintings and sacred sculpture.
An icon begins with a panel, chosen for its size and its subject. The panel receives a ground laid by hand and smoothed to a silky surface. On it comes the drawing, then the gold of the background and haloes, and finally the colour: from dark, deep tones towards ever lighter ones, until faces and garments seem to give off light. There is no printing here and no ready-made reproductions. Every stage is done by hand, and every stage takes time.
Tell us whom it should show and how you imagine it. We will reply with a proposal, a quote and an estimated date.
Order an iconA selection of recent work: icons on gold and silver grounds, in various shapes and formats. The close-ups show what cannot be seen from a distance: the texture of the gold, the drawing of the faces and the successive layers of colour. Click a photo to see details, sides and the back of the panel.
Tell us whom it should show and how you imagine it. We will reply with a proposal, a quote and an estimated date.
Order an icon
The studio writes icons according to the iconographic canon, with respect for the models that have shaped this art for centuries. The panel is chosen individually for each commission, the ground is prepared by hand, and the gilding and painting are built up layer by layer. Icons are made one at a time, so each is a unique work, created for a particular person, family or place of prayer.
Restoration is work with an object's history. The studio cleans, fills losses and protects old paintings, icons and sacred sculpture: family heirlooms and furnishings of churches and chapels. The aim is to restore legibility and lustre without erasing the traces of time. Describe the piece in the form and we will tell you what can be done.
Ask about restoration →Commissioning an icon is a shared process, not a catalogue purchase. It begins with a few sentences about what you are looking for; we work out the rest together, step by step, until you receive the finished icon.
Whom the icon should show, how large it should be, and whether there is a model you love.
We reply with a proposal, a price and an estimated date. Once you accept, the order joins the queue.
Icons are made in turn, in the order of commissions. On request we send photos of each stage. When time is short, there is a rush option.
Every icon is individually packed in a decorative case. Collect it in person or have it shipped.
Every icon is written by hand by one person. That is why there is a wait, and why every order is confirmed personally.
Orders are made in the order they are confirmed. The wait depends on how many orders are in the queue, the size of the icon, the availability of materials (panels, gold, pigments) and the artist's time. We give you an estimated date in the confirmation.
The form on this site is an enquiry, not an order. An order is accepted only once we confirm it by email, with a description of the icon, the price, an estimated date and how you will receive it. Without our confirmation an order does not enter the queue.
If you need the icon by a particular date, you can ask for a rush order. The icon then moves ahead of the queue for an extra fee. We give the fee and the possible date in the confirmation. Rushing is not always possible, for example when materials have to be ordered.
The price depends on the size, the shape of the panel and the gilding. The exact price, how to pay and any deposit are given in the confirmation.
You can change the details or cancel before work on the panel begins. After that, we charge for the work done and the materials used. An icon made to individual order cannot be returned.
On request we send photos of the work in progress. Every icon is individually packed in a decorative case. You can collect the finished icon in person or have it shipped. Shipping costs are given in the confirmation.
Icons follow traditional models but are made by hand, so they are not copies of the photos in the gallery. Small differences in colour, gilding and drawing are part of handwork.
Tell us whom it should show and how you imagine it. We will reply with a proposal, a quote and an estimated date.
Order an icon