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Vogdanos said he was able, nevertheless, to put his own spiritual beliefs
into his work. “It is one thing to be an icon painter,” he said, “but another to be
an iconographer. Iconography is not possible until you share the faith and
beliefs of the Church.”
It cost £49,000 to decorate the sanctuary apse and a further £80,000
for the dome. Father Salapatas has plans to cover the entire interior with
paintings.
Interest in icons has grown in the west, especially after the Iron Curtain
fell and icons bean to be traded on the art market. There is also a resurgence of
Orthodoxy as well as a huge influx of immigrants from eastern Europe and
Russia. This has helped to raise the interest in a specialist school, which was
founded by the Prince of Wales in 2004, which teaches icon painting, along
with the sacred arts from other faiths. The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts
housed near Old Street in London, offers degree courses in icon painting.
Students become versed in the rules and techniques of the art (together with
Muslim sacred geometry, Islamic calligraphy and the main arts of Hinduism
and Judaism). Last year three doctorates were awarded – all to students from
the heartlands of Orthodoxy (Russia, Romania and Greece) who said they were
impressed by the academic excellence of icon study and production in Britain.
There are now some 115 separate Greek Orthodox communities in
Britain, but in only five have churches been built in the Byzantine style. None
can now boast the splendour of St Panteleimon – the first Byzantine church in
Britain for the past 134 years.

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