One of the two Archangels flanking Romania’s largest mosaic depiction of the More Spacious than the Heavens Icon of the Mother of God was successfully installed on the half-dome that stands above the altar of the National Cathedral in Bucharest.
The members of the Church Painting Committee of the Romanian Patriarchate spent their Friday analysing the current stage of the mosaic icons at the Cathedral’s altar.
The Committee met with the team of artists and viewed the newest representation of the Archangel Gabriel already installed onto the walls above the altar.
The apse will also contain an about twelve meters long iconic image depicting the Archangel Michael, which is expected to be completed in almost two months.
Iconographer Daniel Codrescu, who leads the team of artists, told Trinitas TV that the icon of the Archangel Gabriel had several sources of inspiration and the project was submitted for approval to His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel.
The altar walls will have various representations of Old Testament prophets, symbols such as the Ark of the Covenant, the Communion of the Apostles, and other biblical scenes.
The entire mosaic work of the Romanian People’s Salvation Cathedral is rooted in the hesychast tradition and in the old Byzantine and post-Byzantine art, while being in consonance with the architectural space and the needs of the contemporary Orthodox sacramental rituals.
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
