Painting as Prayer

Can a connection be made between art and a personal experience of God? It is almost a century since Archimandrite Sophrony (then Sergei S. Sakharov) left Moscow, his hometown, where he had received his artistic education, in order to further his artistic formation in Italy, Berlin, and Paris. Art for him was a search for the Truth, the Absolute, and the Perfect. When this search brought him to discover the personal God—Christ—he abandoned painting in order to deepen this relationship in prayer on Mt Athos. Today Archimandrite Sophrony is recognised for his theological writings based on his ascetic monastic life, but his artistic endeavours are less known. Yet with time, he also discovered a way to express his personal relationship with God in visual form. This book presents a selection of his artwork in the various media he used: icon painting, murals, designs, and drawings.