The Icon
This is a very knowlegable study of a genre that does not have a broad base of followers either in the US or Western Eurpope. The genre provides an stimulating counterpoint to rennaissance artistic concepts we are generally accustomed to. Readers should be prepared for some surprises as to the depth of sophistication involved in what seem to be, by some standards, almost 'primative' pinture. Writing icons, as the author points out, represents a meeting of both eastern/Islamic and western art forms. Readers may wish to also read 'My Name is Red' by Orhan Pamuk, the elegant Turkish novelist, and 'The Florentine Princess' by Salman Rushdie. Both of these fine novels explore this emotional and intellectual topic.