Encountering the Sacred Image: Highlights from the Icon Museum and Study Center

October 15 – 16, 2026

Encountering the Sacred Image is an international symposium hosted at the Icon Museum and Study Center that brings together leading scholars from around the world to share new research on Greek and Russian icons in the Museum’s collection. Participants will present on a selection of highlights from the Icon Museum’s permanent collection, none of which have been previously published or extensively studied. The conference papers will serve as the core of a new museum catalogue, which will offer a new perspective on the history of Orthodox icons in a manner accessible and engaging for art historians, museumgoers, and icon lovers alike.

The symposium will be held in conjunction with a collaborative exhibition, featuring masterpieces from the Ikonen-Museum Recklinghausen, opening October 16, 2026. Together, the symposium and exhibition celebrate the milestone twentieth anniversary of the Icon Museum and Study Center.

Registration is required and now open. $150 for Museum members and $185 for non-members.

Register Now

Thank you to our supporters

The conference is made possible through the generous support of the Still Water Foundation, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture, the Kent dur Russell Fund, and Catherine Mannick.

Conference schedule:

Thursday, October 15

10:00-11:00 amWelcome with coffee and pastries
11:00 am -12:00 pmTour of Light from the East: Masterpieces from the Ikonen-Museum Recklinghausen
12:00-1:20 pmBreak
1:20-1:30 pmOpening remarks with Simon Morsink, Executive Director of the Icon Museum
1:30-2:15 pmLutz Rickelt (Ikonen-Museum Recklinghausen)
Two Panels by Matteo da Chio, R2023.02.2.2
2:15-3:00 pmIrina Shalina (State Russian Museum)
Saint John the Forerunner, 2006.6; Month of February, 2007.6; Icon with Feasts, 2008.12
3:00-3:45 pmJustin Willson (Yale University)
Kavertzas, The Lifegiving Spring, 2022.02
4:00-5:00 pmU.S. Premier of Documentary Living Prayer in Christianity
5:00-8:00 pmOpening reception: Light from the East: Masterpieces from the Ikonen-Museum Recklinghausen

Friday, October 16

9:30-10:15 amEva Haustein-Bartsch (Ikonen-Museum Recklinghausen)
 The Mother of God Tenderness with Christ, Man of Sorrows, 2023.06
10:15-11:00 amAleksandr Preobrazhensky (Moscow State University)
The Anastasis, 2012.11
11:00-11:45 amMaria Vassilaki (University of Thessaly)
Klontzas Panels, R2024.10.1&.2
11:45 am -12:30 pmWendy Salmond (Chapman University)
Reliquary icon, 2011.89a-b and Smolenskaya Mother of God, 2011.76
12:30-2:00 pmBreak
2:00-2:45 pmAthanasios Semoglou (University of Thessaloniki)
The Annunciation, R2023.07
2:45-3:30 pmNatalia Komashko (Independent Scholar)
 Alexius the Man of God, 2008.33
3:30-4:15 pmEvan Freeman (Simon Fraser University)
Hann Processional Icon 2025.02; Royal Doors 2013.3.1-2; Roundel from Novgorod archbishop’s throne
4:15-5:00 pmElliot Mackin (Icon Museum and Study Center)
Christ in Majesty, R2009.8