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Creating iconigraphy for St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Shrine Church
By Valerie Kellogg, STAFF WRITER
March 2, 2002
SOON THE COLOSSAL domed ceiling at St. Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Shrine Church in Greenlawn will tell a story.
For now, the larger-than-life pictures are being painted, panel by panel, inside an artist's studio in Woodbury.
The Byzantine-style fresco will show the Seven Days of Creation and the Preparation of the Throne of Christ. These particular biblical events are rarely depicted in Greek Orthodox churches, and their combination makes the representation even more rare - possibly the first of its kind in the United States, says the Very Rev. John A. Heropoulos, St. Paraskevi's pastor.
The design itself is also unusual: Each scene will flow counterclockwise into the next instead of being shown in segments. Also uncommon is the use of Hebrew in the scroll held by Moses, which will quote the first words of the Book of Genesis, "In the beginning, God created ... " from which the Seven Days of Creation comes. The 11 other prophets from the Old Testament will hold scrolls in Greek and English. With the depiction of Jesus throughout, including an existing painting at the highest point of the dome that is being cleaned and restored, the fresco will show Christ present at the moment of creation.
"I wanted to do something unique," says George Filippakis, 56, the artist. "The composition is completely original."
The brightly colored and intricate images are known as icons, or sacred images used as objects of devotion. In the case of smaller images, it is customary to light a candle, do the sign of the cross and kiss the icon. According to Marina Delaney, an art history professor at Nassau Community College in Garden City, an icon is not considered art as much as theology in visual form. "As such," she says, "the surface of an icon is believed to be a point where the celestial world and the terrestrial world join.
"The painting of icons is considered to be a special vocation," adds Delaney, and classic reference books instruct iconographers to pray. "The process of painting is said to come from God, who in turn directs the painter's hand. According to Greek Orthodoxy, the iconographer is expected to live a holy life, which enables him or her to act as a vehicle for the expression of sacred and divine mysteries."
One of the better known iconographers in the world, Filippakis carries on that tradition. He says he learned the iconographers' prayers from books he read as a child growing up in Iraklion, the capital of the Greek section of the island of Crete. Each day at 7 a.m. when he enters his studio in the home he shares with his wife, Mary, and son, Constantinos, 11, he asks for strength. And each evening when he leaves, usually at 6, he asks God to help him continue the next day.
The St. Paraskevi dome is one of the largest projects Filippakis has worked on. Once completed this summer, the fresco will be made up of 75 paintings. Since the position of each painting is critical to the overall design, the artist measured the dome 11 times from a scaffold before going into the studio to start painting last October. The fresco will consume 3,500 square feet of cotton canvas. Almost 75 gallons of watered-down pigment will be used, and about 5,500 pieces of 24-carat gold leaf will be burnished into the design. The installation, which will begin next month, will require Filippakis and three helpers to work from ascending tiers of scaffolding. Each canvas will be glued to the ceiling. Then the fresco will be varnished.
"We have a lot of work to do," says Filippakis, who moved to the United States 33 years ago.
The idea for the project came to Heropoulos as he and Chris Theodorakis, president of the parish's council, walked around the church one day, discussing how the 35-year-old building - which contains the sacred relics of St. Paraskevi and St. Panteleimon - could be improved. "There is very little sacred art now," says Heropoulos, whose congregation numbers 500 families. He says he thought right away about Filippakis, whom he met 13 years ago when he first became a priest. "There was no other choice of artists to contact knowing of his piety, talent and reputation," Heropoulos says.
Filippakis has done paintings, mosaics and frescoes for 52 churches, both near and far. "His work is very well known," says Nikki Stephanopoulos, spokeswoman for the Manhattan-based Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Examples of his work can be found at Greek Orthodox churches throughout New York City and Long Island. In Manhattan, his paintings are in SS. Anargyroi Church, Holy Trinity Cathedral and St. Paul's Chapel. In Queens, St. Demetrios Cathedral in Astoria contains his mosaics. And on Long Island, his paintings can be found at Kimisis Tis Theotokou Church in Southampton, Kimisis Tis Theotokou in Island Park, the Church of the Resurrection in Glen Cove, Holy Trinity Church in Hicksville, St. John Church in Blue Point and the Transfiguration of Christ Church in Mattituck.
"I am proud to bring this culture of art to this country," says Filippakis, whose work can also be found in Greece and Australia. "I feel a sense of duty and responsibility to leave this legacy behind. It's almost a calling."
St. Paraskevi's new ceiling is scheduled to be unveiled July 14 at a ceremony that will mark the church's 45th anniversary. The date also coincides with the 25th anniversary of the consecration of the church. Archbishop Demetrios, leader of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, is scheduled to preside.
The fresco is part of the larger renovation that involves the installation of marble in the altar, as well as new pews, lighting and carpet, and the restoration of the church's stained glass. "The community has come to raise at least $500,000," says Theodorakis, a lifelong member of the church. "They raised that money in 2 1/2 months."
"And I'm working for the glory," says Filippakis.
Parishioners credit the outpouring to Heropoulos, who came to the parish in 1999. "Father John has a way with that," says Pam Praetorius, a 40-year-old parishioner from Huntington who runs a music publishing and production company. For example, when church officials recently discovered water damage in the roof, Heropoulos found a donor for the $125,000 repair within days.
Huntington resident Dionisia Ferraro, 76, says she is excited about the iconography. "I think it's going to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," says Ferraro, a retired store manager who joined the congregation in 1956. "When the project is over, it's going to be like we'll be walking into a new church."
George Argiriou, a 47-year-old attorney from East Northport, says the ceiling will help make the church an even more sacred place. "When you walk into a beautiful church, how can you not feel closer to God - more religious?" says Argiriou, who once was a St. Paraskevi altar boy. "It creates that atmosphere, and I think the icons have a lot to do with that."
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
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