Interim Newsletter: Icons in England Project and Record Icon Prices at Auction
As we wind down for the summer there are two items to share: (1) plans for an important public exhibition of icons in London, and (2) high prices for icons sold at Bonhams. And a third item just in as I write this.
Madingley Conference 2026: Holy Beauty: Art and Iconography on Mount Athos
The Friends of Mount Athos will hold their biennial Madingley Conference at Madingley Hall, Cambridge, from 16–18 October 2026. This year’s conference is devoted to Holy Beauty: Art and Iconography on Mount Athos and will explore the artistic and theological traditions of the Holy Mountain through illustrated lectures and presentations.
The programme brings together specialists speaking on monumental and panel painting, icon painting on Mount Athos today, the theology of the icon, architecture and landscape, and recent discoveries in Athonite wall painting. The conference is jointly chaired by Fr Maximos Constas and Dr Graham Speake.
Full programme and further information from the Friends of Mount Athos
Icons in England Project
The Temple Gallery alongside a group of young scholars from Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute , is developing a project for an exhibition called Icons in England in 2028. The Temple Gallery is exploring the possibility of a partnership with the King's Foundation for the event. The plan is to exhibit high-quality early icons from both private collections and institutions in England. It is 20 years since the last icons event, Byzantium 330-1453 at the Royal Academy, and there is a new generation joining the growing interest in the riches of Byzantine Orthodox culture and its expression in the Balkan and Slavic worlds.
It looks as though we will have a loan of 30 or more icons from the British Museum's National Collection of Icons. Sir Paul Ruddock's Wyvern Research Institute will lend us several major works. Private collectors in England will lend up to 100 icons. Altogether there will be about 150 or more exhibits, a number of them of monumental proportions, ranging down to hand-sized images for private devotion.
The venue will be the Garrison Chapel Gallery in Chelsea. It is part of The King's Foundation School of Traditional Arts, with whom we are partnering and through whom we hope HM The King may be our patron. Also, through the KFSTA and its association with Aidan Hart, we will show icons by contemporary iconographers working in the tradition.
The catalogue will combine the disciplines of academic art history, theology and mystical theology. All three are needed to comprehend the multidimensionality of icons. There will be a conference of UK-based scholars and experts.
All this is in the early stages of preparation. We welcome your feedback and ideas.
Greek Icons sold at Bonhams Fine Decorative Arts, 2 July 2026
Lot 44: Triptych Icon with the Three Hierarchs, Feasts of the Liturgical Year, the Prophet Elijah, Saints Kosmas and Damian, and Saint Catherine
£152,800 $204,330
Lot 48: Double-Sided triptych: The Disputation on the Holy Sacrament (The Triumph of the Eucharist); The Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost); The Conversion of Saul; "In Thee Rejoiceth". Ionian School (Heptanese School), second half of the 17th century.
£190,900 $255,278
Lot 49: Georgios Klontzas (Heraklion 1535-1608). The Spada Triptych: The Last Judgment; The Resurrection with Passion Scenes; "In Thee Rejoiceth"; View of the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai with Scenes from Exodus, last third of the 16th century. Open: 53 × 75 cm (20 7/8 × 29 1/2 in); closed: 53 × 29.5 cm (29 1/2 × 11 5/8 in).
£1,863,400 $2,491,749
Lot 50: A Double-Sided Icon with the Crucifixion and the Finding of the Cross, Veneto-Cretan School, 17th century.
£51,200 $68,466
With good wishes from Dick Temple and everyone at the Temple Gallery.