The Icon Collection is arranged in two series:
Accession No. HRL.2025.0001: Purchased, 2024 December; Accession No. HRL.2025.0002: Purchased, 2024 December; Accession No. HRL.2025.0003: Purchased, 2025 January; Accession No. HRL.2025.0004: Purchased, 2025 January; Accession No. HRL.2025.0005: Purchased, 2025 January; Accession No. HRL.2026.0001: Mary Allen Johnson, 2025 December.
Acquisition of the items numbered as accessions HRL.2025.0001-0005 was made possible by the Sharon G. Fullerton Maliska Hilandar Research Library Support Fund.
Acquisition of item titled Four Founders of Monasteries donated in honor of Jenn Spock, professor emerita of history, Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Kentucky).
[identification of item], Icon Collection, SPEC.HRL.0016, Hilandar Research Library, Ohio State University
Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.
Processed by: Casey Blackmore and David Mezick, 2025 May; Casey Blackmore, 2026 March; Finding aid written by: Casey Blackmore and David Mezick, 2025 May; Casey Blackmore, 2026 March
Icons in the Eastern Orthodox Church are religious artworks, most often paintings on wood panels. The creation of icons started during early Christianity and has continued into the 21st century. Icons use a traditional and symbolic style to depict Jesus Christ, Mary, saints, and angels. Icons can be small or large and found in homes or churches. They are often hung from walls or placed on shelves, but also can be worn around the neck or carried. While considered art pieces, icons also serve the dual purpose of connecting the owner to their spirituality and the possiblity of miracle working.
In many Russian households there would be a “main corner” that displayed the household icons. In a lower income house, the “main corner” was typically created by placing the icons on a simple wooden shelf. In households with higher incomes, the “main corner” was often transformed into a domestic church, a “prayer place,” or an oratory wall that was completely covered in icons. By filling every space with icons, Russians created the heavenly world in public churches as much as they did in their private homes.
The Icon Collection contains Eastern Orthodox Church icons dated from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The icons generally include images and inscriptions that were hand painted with tempera on wood panels. Some of the icons also include gilding or gold paint. The inscriptions on the icons are mostly in Russian Church Slavonic with one in Greek. The icons depict several different images or themes, including saints, in particular healing saints and founders of monasteries, and images of the Mother of God, Mary. Also included are calendar icons, which were intended to be used in conjunction with texts of the lives of saints as well as menologia, liturgical books that correspond to the calendar.
For each icon, notes on the dimensions are included; for some icons, notes on the paints and/or painting styles used are also included.
The Slavic series contains Eastern Orthodox Church icons with inscriptions in Russian Church Slavonic. They date from the 18th to 19th century. The icons generally include images and inscriptions that were hand painted with tempera on wood panels. Some of the icons also include gilding or gold paint, and one has silver oklad, or a metal cover. The icons depict several different images or themes, including saints, in particular healing saints and founders of monasteries, and images of the Mother of God, Mary. Also included are calendar icons, which were intended to be used in conjunction with texts of the lives of saints as well as menologia, liturgical books that correspond to the calendar.
The Slavic series is arranged alphabetically by title. Items with the same title are arranged by size from largest to smallest.
Tempera on wood, chisel on gesso, silver, colored varnish.
Tempera on wood panel with kovcheg, halos made of gold, border stripped to gesso.
Tempera on wood, chisel on gesso, silver, colored varnish.
Tempera on wood panels, background and halos are made of silver.
Tempera on wood, halos made of silver, covered by a gold lacquer.
Tempera on wood, flaking paint is covered with some cracking to gesso.
The Greek series contains an Eastern Orthodox Church icon with inscriptions in Greek. It is dated from the 20th century. The icon was hand painted on wood panels and includes gilding or gold paint. It is a smaller icon, meaning it was probably for personal use.