Icons are like great gems to be mined by Christians who want to better understand their faith.

So says James Jackson, curator of the James and Tatiana Jackson Collection of Russian Icons. Based in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the 84-piece collection is on display through Jan. 31 at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Conn., in an exhibit titled “Holy Icons of Mother Russia: Sacred Art 1650-1917.”

This reverential show glimmers with inspiration — and information. Did you know that iconography developed as a way to make the Gospel accessible to everyone from simple peasants to cultured nobility? Or that the traditional, Byzantine styles of the form familiar to millions were largely inspired by western European art?

The exhibit is all the more compelling for the history of the works themselves: They were secreted out of Russia during its communist era, when they were outlawed.

In fact, this show is, more than anything else, a stirring testimony to the enduring faith of the Russian people. For more than 1,000 years, the icons acted as powerful spiritual beacons, calling the faithful to prayer from churches, homes and even stables. Every important milestone of life was prayed for, or about, before the artworks the Russians called “windows into heaven.”

These portals of praise line the walls of two museum galleries with images of Jesus, Mary, angels and saints. The Blessed Mother holding the Child Jesus seems to have been an especially popular subject. Jackson, an internationally recognized iconography expert, points out some famous icons associated with Russian cities: the Korsun Mother of God, the Feodorskya Mother of God, the Smolensk Mother of God. Each is a copy after the original attributed to St. Luke and is as well-known in the east as Our Lady of Lourdes is in the west.

The Russian faithful instantly recognize these icons because many miracles were attributed to the originals. In the same way western homes have an image of Our Lady of Fatima or the Miraculous Medal, many eastern faithful wanted a copy of the original miracle-working icons in their homes.

Beautiful Corners

Most of these icons are egg tempura on wood panels. Some of the colors are brilliant; others are dulled by age and varnish. Some sparkle with a brilliant riza, a metal ornamentation often used to cover an icon's surface except for face and hands.

While most icons of the Blessed Mother are not full-length figures, one exceptional icon called The Mother of God is. Painted about 1900, it copies the fresco over the altar in the Cathedral of St. Vladimir in Kiev, Ukraine. This image and its companion piece, The Lord Almighty, combine deeply felt spirituality, a strong Russian flavor and decidedly western style. The two have proven so popular in this show that scores of visitors have requested copies.

Christ appears in several other icons in the traditional pose of The Lord Almighty, usually holding a Gospel in one hand and giving a blessing with the other.

These larger icons, as well as icon panels of angels, especially Michael and Gabriel, likely came from churches or chapels. The smaller ones in the exhibit, most the size of books, likely came from homes in which they were placed on shelves or a wall in a special spot called “the beautiful corner.” Around 90% of the Russian peasant population, even in the poorest hovel, had such a corner, says curator Jackson. Even the lowliest peasants had several icons.

This exhibit also outlines how western influence appeared in some icons after about 1650, then took hold when Peter the Great opened Russia's doors to western Europe. Russian painters slowly adapted the art of Italian masters, such as Raphael, to the centuries-old Byzantine iconography — flat, two-dimensional, stylized figures and scenes not meant to be realistic. They were the only accepted style of iconography from 988, when the Kievan-Rus converted to Christianity under Prince Vladimir.

Gradually, icon painters added western realism. In the show's Tikhvin Mother of God, painted about 1660 and likely from a church iconostasis (altar screen), Mary's eyes have tear ducts. Earlier, traditional, stylized icons would never include such an anatomically correct feature.

If you ask Russian peasants which is better, the Byzantine or the western style, “they don't see any difference,” notes Jackson. “They give it the same respect because of who the image represents.” Yet the style changes actually caused a split between old believers and the state church that permitted icons with western influence.

The Real St. Nick

Intricate detailing is a hallmark of some icons. In the 1816 Christ Immanuel, which pictures Jesus as a youth, every single hair on his head was individually painted. Detailing sometimes includes a long written description directly on the icon. On the Feodorskya Mother of God, the history is told of the original, miracle-working icon. Writing on most icons identifies the image, but faithful Russians knew Mary in her various titles.

Highly detailed scenes grace several icons. The Four Births presents four panels depicting the births of Christ, Mary the “Most Holy Birth-giver of God,” John the Forerunner (the Baptist) and “Holy Nicholas the Wonderworker.”

Another, Resurrection with Feasts, borders the central image of Christ's resurrection within 16 small scenes of feasts celebrated during the liturgical year.

Because St. Nicholas of Myra is the favorite saint of Russia, several icons of him grace this exhibit. With Advent upon us, it's a particularly fitting time to get to know the actual saint on whom the fanciful figure we've come to know as Santa Claus is based. In two much-repeated scenes, Christ gives Nicholas the book of Gospels and Mary gives him his bishop's stole. Others picture his saintly acts of faith, hope and charity.

In the show, visitors will also meet saints of the Orthodox Church. St. Korniliy, Holy Princes Boris and Glyeb, and Seraphim of Sarov — these holy souls are unfamiliar to us. It's good to make their acquaintance right here on American soil.

And to remember what they have in common with our saints — and with us. “Each icon has the same unceasing song,” says Jackson. “All day, every day, what they say is: ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.’”

Joseph Pronechen writes from Trumbull, Connecticut.