d) The Meaning of Icons in the Present
Every icon gallery owner has great responsibility for his icons. He treats them like a piece of treasured material while at the same time he sees them as religious items and wants mankind to appreciate them.
The western beholder needs some time to accustom himself with the icon’s world. It needs a change in ones view to look with the eyes of one’s soul. Plato called this process a “turning around of the entire soul”. It’s this entirety, which is experienced mystically, the contemplation of an icon is about. An icon’s deepest meaning lies in making the netherworld visible in the here and now. That is why icons are also called “Windows to Eternity”. Icons are gems of human’s creative power. For man the sculptural art, like music, has always been a way to get beyond the borders of this world and reach the “Divine”. The longing for calming and strengthening influence as well as a place for reflection are enormous in today’s fast moving and superficial world. However, it is that icons represent. Furthermore icons gain more and more attractiveness. There is the passionate collector who cherishes the sentimental value of an icon as well as the investor who sees the concrete worth in them, for icons don’t know price losses.
We offer you the opportunity to plunge into another world where the icon’s shining strength may inspire you.