Holy Icon

"Cosmic Liturgy", acrylic on canvas, 16x20 inch, Bishop Maxim, 2022

One of the rarest things in life is to meet the innocent, the blameless, and the childish in a good sense. Such a rare and indescribably innocent thing is encountered by whoever sees this painting by Bishop Maxim Vasiljevich. First, the black universe (due to the lack of atmosphere) seems to us as if it were breathing and pulsating with its blue shimmers. It is not the vast faceless space in which the fixed stars run their curved courses. And the stars do not seem to be of the hard and heavy material of the congealed lava but rather appear like soft and juicy fruits in a heavenly fruit bowl. Their lighting, which results from the artist’s rare color work, makes us feel like children playing a space game in a friendly and welcoming environment. And suddenly, in the center of the enormous sphere, we perceive a gigantic child’s face, looking at us with innocent eyes, which look at us as if to detect if there is any trace of unfailing love left in the depths of our hearts. Perhaps the Little PRINCE on the right has the innocence that gives him the audacity to stretch out his little arms and embrace the mysterious majestic FACE OF THE UNIVERSE. In this painting, the unexpected originality achieves three points: the unique color work, the incredible lightness that holds the meteor planets, and the waving scarf that transforms the Little Prince into a flying CHERUBIM.