Annunciation (Monastery of St. John Lampadistis), Christmas Issue Wall Paintings, Republic of Cyprus

Annunciation (Monastery of St. John Lampadistis), Christmas Issue Wall Paintings, Republic of Cyprus

Postage stamps--Cyprus--History

Γραμματόσημα--Κύπρος--Ιστορία

The renowned contemporary philosopher Ioannis Theodorakopoulos wrote in the introduction of his work about Goethe's Faust, that to approach God, man with his logic conceived philosophy, with his feelings religion and with his imagination the arts. To draw nearer to God religion used both logic and fantasy. With fantasy it considerably elevated religious art, which we can so easily admire even in the smallest of Cyprus villages and also around the open countryside. In the tiny population of a village that lacks intellectual personalities or spiritual leaders, one can still come across aspects of intense spirituality that overcome the absence of other intellectual activities. First of these is the church with its daily contacts with the residents as well as the arts and crafts; its Orthodox architecture and style which the Nobel winner and poet Odysseas Elytis calls ""celestial temples"", built primarily in the shape of a rectangular or square cross representing the earth, supports an enormous dome that resembles and supplements the heavens. And then we have the music ""Oh My Sweet Spring"" which glorifies the lament of the Virgin Mary for the loss of her child the Christ during the Holy Week culminating in the Good Friday Services. One has but to glance at the church murals in Cyprus to realize that the pictures are not only an effective medium of communication with the people who often were illiterate of the Gospels, but a means of communication with God in the metaphysical which is embraced and so beautifully expressed in the Byzantine artistic style. Wooden iconostases and pulpits, magnificent belfries, admirable ecclesiastical works, fonts, vestments, embroidered mourning coverings, sepulchral Good Friday processions, illustrated Gospels and great artistic faith offerings are but a small part of the unrevealed spiritual legacy that has survived uninterruptedly from the very early days of Christianity to the present times.

Cyprus Post, Republic of Cyprus

Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Cyprus Post, Republic of Cyprus

Κυπριακά Ταχυδρομεία, Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία

Library of Cyprus University of Technology

Digital Heritage Research Lab of Cyprus University of Technology

16th November 1998

Designer: V. Stylianou

Απαγορεύεται η δημοσίευση ή αναπαραγωγή, ηλεκτρονική ή άλλη χωρίς τη γραπτή συγκατάθεση του δημιουργού.

www.cypruspost.gov.cy

TIFF

EL, EN

Image

1998-CHRISTMAS-10

35.160417, 33.346556

Oriental Press, Bahrain