Holy Icon

“Netochka Nezvanova 2", acrylic on canvas, by Bishop Maxim, 2022

This is a woman who, from an uninvited girl to high society, managed, despite obstacles, to become an artist. But how to show all this in a painting? The face and neck stand upright like a pillar holding the whole temple. The look of two strong eyes of a strong female idiosyncrasy is added to this factor of balance. The portraitist made his eyes beautiful and his eyes strong. Eyelids and eyelashes contribute to that, as well as lips that show a woman, on the one hand beautiful, but also strong, who won and proved herself despite the opposite reactions and jealousy of others. An aristocratic hat on her head introduces an imbalance towards the vertical axis and assures us that this woman fought and achieved through struggle.