Iconographer George Filippakis has created all of the art of St. Anthony's.
Of the many styles of Byzantine art, a very light and delicate one from the
13th century was selected, one which applies softer colors and produces
figures of sensitivity and gracefulness. This is a style clearly less harsh
than some. At times the style nearly becomes modern with its bold lines and
sweeping brush strokes. It is however, very authentic and true byzantine
iconography.
On the inside of the dome above the nave is the icon of
Pantocrator depicting
Christ as the ruler of the world, and additional icons which include the
Holy Mother of Christ attended by two angels and the prophets of the Old
Testament. The pattern of the Pantocrator is taken from the 13th century church
of Perivleptos, in Mystras, Greece. On the drum-like structure of the
dome and below the icon of Pantocrator there are several panels of icons
which depict the life of Christ. These scenes are completed with the
Crucifixion and
Ascension painted on large panels
and located on the
forward walls of the nave. A traditional requirement of all Greek Orthodox
churches is that the life of Christ be depicted in the iconography of the
church. Included in the "drum" are also four panels which show the figures of the
four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, thus satisfying another church
tradition in iconography and decoration.
The second most dominant icon in the church's iconography is that of the
Platytera, showing the Holy
Mother of Christ with the Christ Child
on her lap as she sits enthroned in the heavens and attended by angels. The Platytera
dominates the apse above the sanctuary. Framing the Platytera are icons of
several Church Fathers of the ancient Church known as Hierarchs, or Bishops.
The worshiper in the nave faces ten full scale icon figures which decorate
the Iconostasion, the screen separating the nave from the sanctuary. These
are the icons of Christ, of the Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, St. Anthony
(the Patron Saint of our Church), Archangels Gabriel and Michael and other
Saints. On the side walls,
the worshiper sees the figures of more saints,
female on the left and males on the right side. Before him, on the face of
the Holy Table, just inside the Holy Gate of the Iconostasion, he sees a mosaic
of the Last Supper where the figure of Christ is surrounded by his apostles
on that solemn and sacred occasion. On the front wall
outside the Church and
on either side of the entrance to St. Anthony's, there are two enormous figures,
Christ and St. Anthony, which are executed in mosaic and flank the large
Byzantine style cross which graces the front of the church.
Various smaller icons and crosses in the narthex and inside the Iconostatsion,
complete the array of art forms that typified Byzantium. Works in metal, icons in
pounded silver over oils and small mosaics are some such examples.
It is during the Divine Liturgy on any Sunday morning that the total and full
impact of decoration and ritual, art and liturgical experience, is felt by the
worshiper. It is at that time that the worship service, led by the Priest and
chanted to music having its origins in the earliest times of the
Christian Church, brings together these vibrant and exciting art forms. The
Byzantine music, which is traditionally monophonic, is enhanced through
polyphonic arrangements for mixed choirs, adopted and used by the Greek
Orthodox Church in America. Experienced together, the architecture, the icons
of paint, tile and metal, and the byzantine music of the Church keep us
linked to the ancient Church and, especially, to that colorful time of
development of the Church, the Byzantine era, with its rich and venerable
legacy for our Greek Orthodox Church and faith today.
George N. Gianopulos
Building Committee Chairman