FAQs

Generally, 7th Council Icons offers devotional- to cathedral-sized board icons.  We do not, at this time, offer frescoes. Some icons with complicated scenes or many figures may have a minimum size limitation as well.  All of our icons are made according to the traditional Eastern Orthodox understanding; therefore, our icons depict Christ, the Theotokos, the angels and the saints which are recognized by the Orthodox Church, and depicted in the manner embraced by the Orthodox Church.  Our icons are all blessed by an Orthodox priest.

7th Council Icons uses white birch boards, with many layers of gessoe that includes, in traditional fashion, a cotton layer sandwiched within the layers of gessoe to preserve the longevity of the icon on the board.   Each layer is finely sanded, and the final layer is polished to a white, mirror-like finish.  The icon is then painted upon this surface.  Our boards’ typical dimensions are:

• 5″ x 7″
• 6″ x 9″
• 8″ x 10″ or 11″
• 8″ x 12″
• 10″ x 12″
• 12″ x 14″
• 14″ x 16″
• 16″ x 20″
• 24″ x 36″

Larger sizes are available; contact us.  The above dimensions represent the most typical sizes.

Please contact us by email.  Feel free to ask questions; you won’t be greeted by any “sales pitch” or expectations.  When you commission an icon, you are essentially specifying what you want on the icon (for example, which saint).  We can guide you by helping you determine options such as size, background color/options, amount of gold leaf, and in some cases whether you want a full figure or not (“head to toe” person, or a “portrait” type representation).  We can also give you pricing options.  No obligation or expectation occurs when you inquire about a commission.

The time it takes to create an icon depends on several factors, such as:

• the number of icons being worked on prior to your order
• the complexity of your icon
• in some cases, the size of your icon (especially if a custom board needs to be created)

Typically, a commissioned icon of one figure can take between 2 weeks to 2 months, depending on our workload.

We usually have an inventory of some icons available and ready to ship.  Please check our gallery here.

Yes, gold leaf is available, but not required, for the background.  7th Council Icons uses genuine 23-carat gold leaf from Italy.  Please note that all halos are gold leaf.  If desired (and ordered), some detailing (especially on Christ and the Theotokos) can be done with gold leaf.

Typically, our icons have English inscriptions.  Living in this place at this time, we prefer to use English.  We can, however, make Greek inscriptions for saint names. Some saints’ names can be written in Slavonic as well; contact us for more information.  However, for our eyes, our Slavonic inscriptions tend to be a bit more “spaced” (and readable) than the very tight Slavonic calligraphy you may find on some old icons.  Although text can be written on scrolls or books within the icon, we tend to not write paragraphs of text on the icon itself as is found in some old icons.  And, of course, we never “sign” any icons with the iconographer’s name.

Commissioned icons are created specially for you.  The size of the board, any custom board preparation, the amount of gold leaf, the number of figures in the icon, painting details, and any number of custom details affect the price.  A commissioned icon is designed and painted for you when you order it.  As a unique item, it cannot be priced like an icon print or a product off the shelf of a store. Please contact us with general pricing questions and we can answer some questions or concerns you may have, without any sales pressure.

After you have selected the options you want on your icon, and understand/agree to its price from our communication, we ask for a 50% deposit.  If you do commission an icon, we will send you a link for online payment (PayPal or credit card) or, alternatively, you can send a check.  When this deposit is received, work on you icon will begin.  Upon completion of your icon, we will request the remaining payment; then your icon will be shipped Priority Mail to you.  Note that we try to ensure that you are satisfied with the general form of the icon and the price prior to commissioning so that the final result will be something you love.