The Easter Week in Images
When I saw a very big icon/ panel of the Passions of Christ in the National Ukrainian Museum in Lviv, the idea came to mind, "why not make a reproduction of the panel and use it for the same purpose it has been created for, but then in The Netherlands and for a generation 600 years later".
The icon has been made during the 15th century in the Ukraine. It has been in an Orthodox church close to the borders of Romania for centuries until it moved to the National Museum.
The icon has been situated in the front part of the church and its intend was to educate the people about the last week of Christ. The entry in Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the treason of Judas, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection are all depicted in sections, as if reading a comic book. Little 'blocks' are added with text explaining what happens in the scene. The style is typical Ukrainian with relative simple images. The quality of the piece is very good.
I could imagine that the painter must have known that his work would go on for ages. In a way it will continue in the 21st century in an other part of the world known as 'The 'Passions Project'.
The idea is to create an icon with the same techniques and of the same size to function as tool to give publicity to the Gospel. However instead of staying in one church it is intended to go from church to church. A church can use it for means of evangelisation, publication, study day or any creative usage. On the condition that when they are finished it is moved to another church.
At Saturday the 5th of October 2008 Marcel van Baaren and Cornelis Visser started the project; a wooden panel was moved to the attic of the prayer house of the Baptist Church of Woerden where we can work on the icon. This site will give updates as the project is moving forward with the aim to be ready at Easter 2009.
Very likely the icon was created with keeping in mind that most of the viewers would not be capable of reading and writing. In this age that is very unlikely but a contradiction, we are so overwhelmed with information that the modern man is more sensitive for imagery and design than by the written and spoken word. I pray that the Passions Icon will attract attention and educate people of a new generation about the sacrifice Christ did during Easter.