Iconographer Elias Katsaros turns walls into sacred space

MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) – Famed iconographer Elias N. Katsaros is piecing together his symbolic artwork like a puzzle inside the dome at the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in northeast Cobb.

Katsaros, owner of Byzantine Art Studio in Huntsville, Ala., spent eight months painting a portrait of Jesus Christ, 20 feet in diameter, along with portraits of the 12 prophets, before traveling to the church off Trickum Road to mount his artistry. He will spend more time to glue his artwork onto the dome and gild thousands of 3-by-3-inch squares of 22-karat gold leaf to all the backgrounds.

Scaffolding fills the congregation's seating, but Father Panayiotis Papageorgiou, Ph.D., Protopresbyter of the church, said the inconvenience during divine services is entirely worth having the spiritual paintings fill the dome of the church.

“We see this as the church being transformed into the Kingdom of God. The iconography gives windows into heaven, as the icons are already in Heaven, and changes this from a regular space to a sacred space,” Papageorgiou said.

The mural of Christ, known as the Pantocrator, is always placed at the top of the dome. Pantocrator translates as "The Ruler of All" and represents the incarnated God, which is Christ. The 12 single figures below represent the Prophets, who prophesied about the Messiah. They line the edges of the dome.

For the past four years, Katsaros has been creating and placing his iconography along the walls of Holy Transfiguration in stages. Katsaros has already painted the apse in the altar area with the Platytera and Christ and two murals on each side of the altar. The next phase will be to install the Annunciation above the altar and then Four Evangelists below the dome, and two more murals on the north and south walls of the sanctuary. He has also completed the iconography in St. Andrew's Chapel next to the church.

"The icons were once used to depict the stories of the Bible for those who could not read, but also encourages people to enter and pray to the those depicted in the icons,” Papageorgiou said.

The church is designed in the Byzantine style, which Papageorgiou said dates back to the fifth century and reflects the design of the Temple of Solomon, the temple that once held the Ark of Covenant. Papageorgiou said there are almost no windows at eye-level in the sanctuary, as “you are cutting the whole world out once you enter here, and enter into the Kingdom of God.”

Katsaros, who was born of Greek parentage in Istanbul (Constantinople), Turkey, grew up with iconography all around him. His family moved to Athens, Greece, in the early 1960s where he studied art and interior desgin. Once he came to America in 1969 he realized that he wanted to pursue iconography and he trained under two other icongraphers and has been a professional iconographer since 1972. Painting in the 16th-century Cretan style, Katsaros has created works of art for dozens of churches.

AP-CS-10-20-10 2049EDT