Exhibitions

Divine Thresholds: Icons and the Orthodox Christian World brings together over 130 icons and sacred objects from private and public collections across Australia, to introduce audiences to one of the longest-standing and most profound visual traditions in Christianity.

For millennia, humanity has engaged in devotional art and imagery to express profound spirituality. In Orthodox Christianity, the tradition of icons both captures its most sacred subjects and serves as a direct channel to the divine and heavenly realms. Icons, from the Greek eikōn (εἰκών) are two-dimensional sacred images of Christ, the Mother of God, saints and angels created and used for devotion and prayer.

From their development within the Eastern Roman Empire, the acceptance of icons was a hard-fought victory that rapidly spread and took root across a vast geographical area, from mainland Greece, Crete and Cyprus, to Ethiopia, Syria and Russia. As the Orthodox world expanded over many centuries, so too did the repertoire of icons, introducing variations which absorbed and reflected local preferences, customs and artistic knowledge, all while still preserving their essential form, function and theology.

Featuring icons dating from the 15th to 19th centuries, and spanning a multitude of cultures, countries and continents, Divine Thresholds explores the origins, development and enduring role of icons from late antiquity to the present day, while also revealing the depth, diversity and continuity of Eastern Christianity.

Serving as a bridge between past and present, the sacred and the secular, the exhibition brings multiple perspectives into conversation. Visitors, irrespective of belief, are invited to engage with the icons and exhibition in their own way, and find something meaningful in that encounter. There is no single or prescribed way to experience Divine Thresholds.

Image: Installation view, Divine Thresholds: Icons and the Orthodox Christian World, Hellenic Museum. Photo: Samantha Meuleman Photography.