Two Byzantine Style "scrolls"



 



The recipients knew in advance that they would be getting these awards (which are given at the end of their time of service as Prince and Princess) and so requested that they be done in a Byzantine style, which I have not tried before.

The idea of painting them on board to resemble icons was my own, and posed some practical problems, since I normally transfer the design using a light-box, which works fine on translucent pergamenata, but not on MDF fibre-board!

I'm not sure that Byzantine is "my" style, but the recipients seemed happy with them.

I used modern materials as I did not have time to master the techniques of traditional icon painting.  They were painted with acrylic on MDF board, with  gold leaf background.

The blank spaces are because at the time I was painting them, it was not known who the new Prince and Princess would be.  Happily, the right couple won the throne... that is, the couple with names which well fitted the spaces available!  As I was not present at the event, a friend was primed to fill them in for me.

I have, in my time, studied classical Greek to "O" level standard and New Testament Greek at theological college, but do not know Byzantine Greek, and have forgotten much of what I used to know.  So this is Google Translate Greek,,, apologies to any genuine Greek speakers seeing these scrolls!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A long-awaited Laurel Scroll

Image
 This scroll was commissioned at the beginning of 2020.  You can guess the rest.  By the time I had completed it, it was apparent it wasn't going to be presented any time soon, so I finished it without adding the date, which I was finally able to add a month ago, and the scroll was presented yesterday.  So far my record for the longest delay between my doing a scroll and it being presented, but I have another one still awaiting presentation which will beat that record!
Read more

Winter Poem for Yule Ball

 The Bardic Challenge for Yule Ball 2021 was to produce a piece of work on the theme of "Winter".  I looked for inspiration to the traditional symbols for each month, as used in calendars from Books of Hours and some wall paintings, and used those for the three winter months, namely: December: Killing the Pig January: Feasting indoors February: Sitting by the fire. When I came to perform my poem, the sheets of paper on which it was written had disappeared!  I was invited instead to record a performance of it, which is this:
Read more

Scrolls in 2023

Image
Laurel for Marlein Eberlein.  This was a scroll I had promised to do for the recipient as and when she became a Laurel (recognised master in the field of Arts and Sciences in the SCA). That finally happened this year. It was inspired by 16th century "Citizen Portraits"... that is, portraits commissioned by well-to-do bourgeois, something that really only began to happen in this period.  Previously portraiture had mostly been the monopoly of royalty or nobility.  Such portraits often (though far from universally) feature the sitter's accomplishments or source of their wealth, and because the sitter will not be armigerous, any heraldry will be typically that of their trade guild.  In this case I featured the clothes Marlein has made (being worn by her), a sprang hairnet and some pottery, three arts in which she has distinguished herself.  As she often sells her produce, I have put her at a trade counter, implying a successful merchant. I used the symbol of the Lau...
Read more