A Byzantine Church is constructed in such a way that the sanctuary is separated from the body of the church by a wall or screen, pierced by three gateways --- double doors in the center and single doors on each side. The whole screen, called Iconostas, is filled with pictures (icons) of our Lady and the Saints. Pope Paul VI calls our attention to the fact that on the iconostas the Blessed Mother appears in two prominent places. The central doors of the iconostas portray the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the one door and Our Lady on the other. On the right side of the central doors there is always a large icon of Our Lord. On the left side there is always a large icon of our Lady, and she is usually shown holding the child Jesus. Over the rest of the iconostas many icons appear. Usually there is stretched across the whole screen a series of icons depicting the chief feasts of the year and so Our Lady also appears repeatedly in these scenes.

ICON RESOURCES
Andrei Rublev
Byzantine Icon Art
Copper Icons
DominICON
Icon Archive
Novgorod Icon Gallery
Orthodox Ministry ACCESS Icon Gallery
Orthodox.net
Russian Culture - Holy Icons
Russian Icons: Index
Russian Icons from the Tretiakov Gallery
A Sampling of Russian Icons
Ukrainian Icons
Understanding Russian Icons

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