Saint Tarasios, Patriarch of Constantinople
THE ICON SHOWN
- AUTHOR
- Anastasia Kaplii
- YEAR
- 2026
- MATERIALS
- Egg tempera, natural mineral pigments, gold
- TECHNIQUE
- Translucent layering with fine painterly strokes
- TRADITION
- Early Russian icon painting, inspired by the legacy of Andrei Rublev
- ORIGIN OF THE IMAGE
- Byzantium, ninth century. The author of the original image is unknown.
ABOUT THE IMAGE
The veneration of sacred images
Saint Tarasios was Patriarch of Constantinople, and his name is inseparably bound to the history of the Orthodox icon. In 787 he presided over the Seventh Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, which restored the veneration of sacred images. Tarasios was also known for his care for the poor and his striving for peace within the Church. People pray to the saint for the strengthening of faith, for spiritual wisdom and for help in making difficult decisions.
Saint Tarasios was Patriarch of Constantinople from 784 to 806. After his death in 806 his images spread within the Byzantine church tradition. Tarasios is depicted in hierarchical vestments as a Patriarch and a defender of the veneration of icons.
LETTER
The face is painted last. By that point nothing can be changed — neither the colour of the robes, nor the turn of the head, nor the gold behind the shoulders.
Gold here is neither ornament nor background. It is a refusal of space: the figure stands in no room, in no landscape.
An icon is not painted for a museum. It is placed at home, at eye level — and looked at for years.