12 Holidays of the Orthodox Church, Metal, Framed

The picture illustrates the twelve great holidays of the Orthodox Church, the so-called dodekaorton. The narrative runs from left to right, as if you are reading a text. It begins in the upper left corner with the Birth of the Mother of God, then with the introduction to the temple, the Annunciation and the Birth of Christ. Then it goes down to the scene of the Lord’s encounter and Christ’s baptism. Later, the scene of Christ’s entry into Jerusalem, the Transfiguration, the Exaltation of the Cross, the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God.

The Resurrection of the Lord is the largest scene in the center, it does not belong to the group of twelve because it surpasses all others, it is the most important holiday for the Orthodox Church.

The scenes are shown schematically, the artist outlined the characters with a dark outline. Limited color range based on warm browns, reds and golds. Each scene has a golden Cyrillic inscription. The icon is framed in a wooden frame, decorated with an ornament carved out of wood.

Great holidays have been celebrated for centuries, their number has changed over the years, and by the 10th century there were less than twelve. In the final version, the catalog of great holidays was formulated in the 16th-17th centuries and is still valid today. The feasts of the Lord, that is dedicated to Christ, dominate. The number twelve is treated in Orthodoxy as a fullness, a symbol of the twelve apostles, or, among others, the twelve seals of the Holy Spirit.