On Monday, artists began the installation of the Christ Pantocrator icon on the walls of the central tower of the National Cathedral in Bucharest. The image was assembled using 2,400 kilogrammes of mosaic fragments over the course of six months.
The diameter of the iconographic representation is 12 metres, and it encompasses an area of more than 150 square metres.
The depiction of the Saviour Jesus Christ was created predominately by Alina Codrescu, the spouse of iconographer Daniel Codrescu, who oversees the National Cathedral’s painting project.
“We completed the preliminary assembly of the Pantocrator icon last week. We fabricated it by integrating every component to obtain a comprehensive depiction of the icon that will be mounted, which includes the customary application of the rainbow and text surrounding the icon,” Daniel Codrescu told Trinitas TV.
“We commenced the initial installation today. We have begun mounting the initial components of the icon onto the wall and aim to have the entire icon affixed by the conclusion of the week.”
“It was a laborious and meticulous undertaking. It was a feat of asceticism to accomplish, as it demanded considerable silence and inner peace. It is a momentous occasion, a privilege for an artist to fashion such an icon once in a lifetime,” the iconographer added.
By the end of the year, the scaffolding in the cathedral’s nave should be demolished, allowing the Pantocrator icon to be beheld in its entirety, as desired by the artists.
For additional information regarding the materials, donations, and iconographic technique, please visit the website pictamcatedrala.ro.
For more pictures, please visit our Photo gallery section.
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Mircea Florescu
