Icons, to frame or not to frame

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Tis_Bearself

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Most icons I see for sale are mounted on boards, no frame.

If I buy an icon that is just printed on paper, should I be looking to mount that on a board or is it okay if I frame it, like under glass to protect it?

Is there some way that’s more correct?
 
If it’s on paper, I would prefer framing it to protect it from tear or damage.

I don’t believe either way is more correct than the other.

If it’s a really small print you can even fold it and carry it around in your purse. I carry a small print of Saint Elias in my wallet.
 
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Mounting it on a board might not be a bad idea since the print if small and light would not cause warping and wont require a pair of horizontal boards to be added on ( at the back ) .
 
I get gold tissue paper, a frame that is used for a certificate (this way no black shows ) then I mount the picture of the icon. Thus way it has a gold type of matting around it.
 
We have a combiniation of some that are framed an some that aren’t. Either is ok.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
If I buy an icon that is just printed on paper, should I be looking to mount that on a board or is it okay if I frame it, like under glass to protect it?
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Actual hand written icons on boards are out of my reach financially. Some of my favorite icons are very old but can be found in prints that are laminated, thus very affordable. Even so, I have chosen to frame them. At Hobby Lobby I found a black plastic frame that is light enough to hang on a push pin so no wall damage. It comes with a protective clear cover so no glass to shatter.

Inexpensive, laminated icons.
https://skete.com
 
Me too – would love to have a real icon but out of my reach financially too. So you do with what you can do and if there are any orthodox churches or catholic eastern churches around – possibly one can visit at sometime. You can also get a print, sand some wood (stain it), mount it and then shellac it (clear of course) a number of times and then use a gold pen to put gold on it where ever.
 
From what I have seen of the “real” icons they cost several hundred Euros at the low end, and it just goes up from there. I’d be a bit afraid to have something that expensive hanging in my house.

Some icons I like are available printed on paper for a much more reasonable small sum.
 
So what you’re saying is I can just regard a printed image on board or framed as a normal old Western holy picture? I don’t have to worry about its being an “icon” with all that entails?

How do I know when something that isn’t a 2000 Euro hand painted historic icon, is actually a “real icon”? Is there criteria I need to be aware of?

I am mostly interested in not doing anything wrong or disrespectful to Eastern tradition. In Western tradition, we don’t have the same concept of icons. I have holy pictures, but they are holy pictures. Not icons.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
So what you’re saying is I can just regard a printed image on board or framed as a normal old Western holy picture? I don’t have to worry about its being an “icon” with all that entails?
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I think that that is a reasonable conclusion, yes.

An icon IS a prayer. It is “written”, not painted, in compliance with specific rules about how they are written, the prayers prayed while doing so, and the like.

A picture of an icon would be religious art, to my understanding, and treated like that.
Tis_Bearself said:
How do I know when something that isn’t a 2000 Euro hand painted historic icon, is actually a “real icon”? Is there criteria I need to be aware of?
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Unless it comes from Monastery Icons or ebay, it is unlikely to state that it is an icon if it is not. (contrary to what the name suggests and what they tell. you, Monastery Icons is not an orthodox monastery, but a Hindu-ish cult that has gone through various phases under the same leader, including pseudo-orthodoxy). Given the time they take to write, actual icons will not be inexpensive. Seminarians, including my priest, often write them to support the costs of their studies.
Tis_Bearself said:
I am mostly interested in not doing anything wrong or disrespectful to Eastern tradition. In Western tradition, we don’t have the same concept of icons. I have holy pictures, but they are holy pictures. Not icons.
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I seriously doubt that you could go wrong treating a copy of an icon as you would a holy picture.

It’s also fairly common to give them to priests to be blessed, which we do by placing them on the altar during Divine Liturgy.
 
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