A Parting Gift for Dr. Hans Boersma

Team fundraiser

Brian Dant and 2 others are organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

In his recent book on the beatific vision, our professor Hans Boersma explores the relation between the Transfiguration, the uncreated light of Christ therein, and the role of an ongoing “transfiguration spirituality” for the Christian life. In the Transfiguration, according to Hans's reading of several theologians from the tradition, we see a prime manifestation of the uncreated light of Christ. This uncreated light was not only available to the disciples on Tabor but is the same light that we pursue in our ongoing "transfiguration spirituality"—we are transformed to see in this life the light of Christ that we will see more fully in the hereafter. Our eyes are in some sense transformed to see the light of Christ, just as the eyes of Peter, James, and John were transformed to see Christ's divinity on Tabor.

Through this GoFundMe campaign, we have commissioned an icon for Hans from his students, both current and past. The icon mirrors this key theme in his book and recent spiritual journey. This Transfiguration icon from a professional iconographer in Greece will serve as a means for Hans to move more deeply into his recently-refined convictions on the beatific vision and the role of the Transfiguration in the spiritual life. Can we raise together the money to give Hans an icon “from his former, grateful students at Regent College”? We hope this will be a lovely way to send him off to his new post at Nashotah House. Please see this video for more (and see below for details on the cost of the icon):

The icon has be written / drawn by an iconographer from Greece, Mr. Kostas Loudovikos. Kostas is an established an award winning iconographer, having created icons for churches and religious orders in Greece and beyond. He has over 30 years experience drawing icons. Or, as he says of the icon process: we must use the ancient greek verb «Ιστορώ μία εικόνα», that it means “I know very well and I depict the visual image of a holy person” or the verb «εικονίζω έναν άγιο», that it means I make the icon, the holy image of a saint. He’s not only created much art and iconography, he’s also written several books on art and the process of icon making. My sense is that we’re very, very fortunate for him to have committed to this project. In our conversations, I get the feeling that he’s quite committed to the importance of careful use of icons and appreciates deeply the theological aspect of it—he genuinely has wanted to share in this process with us.

I (Brian) met Kostas when I was taken with his icons of Maximus the Confessor (see below). I asked Kostas the price of his icons, hoping that I might have one for my own collection. Kostas first asked how I would be using the icons—he has a keen sense for the role of the icon—they are not mere pieces of art for decoration. Needless to say, they were out of the price range of this poor student. However, Kostas graciously asked, "how much can you pay"? After a few emails back and forth, I realized that maybe Kostas could write an icon for Hans. I told Kostas about Hans's recent work on the beatific vision and the Transfiguration; he immediately responded using language of Christ as the "uncreated light" in the Transfiguration. He was, quite literally, speaking Hans's language from the recent book. I got the sense that Kostas might be the person to create an icon that captured Hans's recent work. One thing led to the other, and here we are!

See below for more on Kostas's credentials and some examples of his work. (For this campaign, he even included a video of his studio to give us a sense for his studio and show his commitment to the project; see far below.) The details, in short, are as follows:

The icon is large, 60cm x 75cm (2 ft. x 3ft.), and includes all six characters in the Transfiguration event (or, as Kostas calls it, the "Metamorphosis"): Christ, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John. The icon includes figures of each attendee of the event and, in Kostas's terms, “Jesus Christ … within the Uncreated Light.” (GoFundMe crops the photo below; click here to see a full version). The cost of the icon is $3,000, but Kostas did us a big favor by offering it for $1,800 (+$300 shipping) = $2,100. We're now trying to raise the market value of the icon, $3,000 USD. (In fact, now having completed the icon, Kostas tells me that he'd price this for $5,000 USD; having now seen the icon in person, and knowing the prices of his other icons, I'd have to agree that it's worth this—and very likely more. It's a big icon with intricate detail.) If you'd like to contribute, your name will be placed on a framed list that we will give to Hans, so he can know your particular expression of gratitude.

See the full version of this icon here.

Would you help us to send Hans from Regent with this beautiful gift?

More on our iconographer:

Kostas Loudovikos was born in Volos (Greece). He is a visual artist and author, with a degree of Master in Fine Arts from the National School of Fine Arts in Lyon, France. He is also graduated from the Law School of Athens University. He was instructed in History of Art by the professor, art historian, and academician Chrisanthos Christou for two years.

In the process of writing icons, Mr. Loudovikos does not only pursue a way to represent merely the cultural framework of our days but the living “animal” (according to Aristotle’s terminology) of the creation and its mystery, which forms the unapproachable and unintelligible center of the person and of the creative logos of the current civilizations.

A few of Mr. Loudovikos's notable recognitions and awards:

- Ιnternational Αward "Lorenzo il Magnifico" for his painting with mixed media, at the International Biennial of Contemporary Art, FLORENCE BIENNALE 2013
- International Award of ACCADEMIA ITALIA IN ARTE, PABLO PICASSO 2018
- International Award ΑRTE PALERMO 2018
- Honorable Mention Award, Artist of the Year 2017, Circle Foundation for the Arts
- LEONARDO DA VINCI 1st International Prize, 2016
- In 2017, 4 artworks which are part of his visual series “Grammatozoaria”, were printed on stamps in a collectible series of stamps in Germany.

See more at his CV: https://loudovikos.gr/en/cv.

Examples of Mr. Loudovikos's iconography:

Jesus Christ, the Logos:

St. Maximus the Confessor: