Last rites

This was taken twenty minutes ago in the dark cloister garden under the shelter of a gazebo as the rain came on again. Titus, the husband of Tatiana and also an iconographer, has just given my icon and my friend Ruth’s icon of St Rita their first coat of varnish at the end of another intense day. It began with the blue surround to the gold leaf halo, continued with the blue background and the domes and walls of the city in the background, and ended with the border, the painting of sides and back, and the lettering that marks the icon as opposed to a mere picture.

Tomorrow, a last coat of varnish and a service of blessing and Eucharist before we go home. I’m already planning next year’s icon ...