Like all
major events in the world- good or evil-
we tend to loose interest when they drag on and on- Is this the case for the peoples of the Ukraine, as the invasion of their
homeland seems to have no end? I know
for us in the monastery we daily pray for them, as I know others do. But as the news is less and less, we wonder
how the people are really doing? What of
the millions, especially women and children, who are refugees in foreign countries?
What has
happened to some of Ukraine’s
treasured art? We know a lot of it has been stored in cities in the western
part of the country, but last year the Louvre in Paris
began a plan to secretly remove 16 artworks from that country, far from the war raging in eastern Europe
and out of reach of Russian bombs.
The art works traveled via Poland and Germany and five are now being
displayed in the Louvre, which is the world’s most visited museum. “ The Origins of the Sacred Image"will be on view through November of this year and then will be stored till they can be safely returned to their country of origin..
The
artworks, from museums in Kyiv and Varvara, while hidden, were too close to becoming lost due
to Russian missile attacks, so it was decided to remove what could safely be
transported in specially made air-conditioned boxes under military escort.Of the
other 11 works, 9 are currently at the LouvreConservationCenter
in Liévin, a city about 100 miles north of Paris, and the 2 others are in storage
awaiting scientific analysis. Following
the exhibition, the Louvre plans to perform an in-depth analysis of the works.
The five
pieces on view are all sacred Byzantine icons:
Four are encaustic paintings, which is a form of painting where the
paint is mixed with hot liquid wax. They are painted on wood from Saint
Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai and date to the sixth and seventh centuries. The
fifth icon is a micro-mosaic (where tiny multi-colored stones are used to create image) of Saint Nicholas in a stunning gold frame from Constantinople that dates to the late 13th or early 14th
century.
These art
pieces are extremely rare as they
survived the destruction of icons that took place in the Byzantine Empire during the eighth and ninth centuries. There
may be only a dozen left in the world
today, including the four that are now at the Louvre. So they are not just
treasure of the Ukrainians but to all
the art world heritage.
This
operation, unprecedented in character and scope, demonstrated France’s
unwavering support for Ukrainian culture professionals, who demonstrate
extraordinary energy and creativity on a daily basis in coping with the
consequences of the war.
Icons: Top- Sts
Sergius and Bacchus were
fourth-century Roman Christian soldiers
revered as martyrs and military saints. The close
friendship between the two is strongly emphasized in their hagiographies and
traditions, making them one of the most famous examples of paired saints.Right- St.
Nicholas
