[Moo] Fwd: The St. Barbara Project (KASF 2009)

Mon Dec 8 02:23:02 PST 2008

Wow....this looks like a very cool project. I think Team Stierbach should
win it. :-)

Iustinos the "Iconodule"
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ingeborg i Trondheim <ingeborg_sca at yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Subject: The St. Barbara Project (KASF 2009)
To: Seneschal at duncarraig.net, Chronicler at duncarraig.net,
WebMinister at duncarraig.net, hfseneschal at highland-foorde.alantia.sca.org,
info at highland-foorde.atlantia.sca.org, seneschal at storvik.atlantia.sca.org,
chatelaine at storvik.atlantia.sca.org, chronicler at storvik.atlantia.sca.org,
webminister at storvik.atlantia.sca.org, RenFlora at yahoo.com,
chronicler at pontealto.atlantia.sca.org,
webminister at pontealto.atlantia.sca.org, seneschal at stierbach.org,
chronicler at stierbach.org, thechatelaine at stierbach.org,
webminister at stierbach.org, seneschal at pontealto.atlantia.sca.org,
chatelaine at pontealto.atlantia.sca.org
Cc: Editor The Oak of Atlantia <oak at atlantia.sca.org>

 The St. Barbara Project

Deadline:  March 7, 2009

(Contest Rules)

December 7, 2008

Dear Artisans of the Kingdom of Atlantia,

We have been offered the chance of a Medieval lifetime – Father John Vass
representing Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church (Baltimore, MD) has
requested that a contest be held to craft a holder in the Medieval style for
two of their most sacred objects, both related to their patron saint, St.
Barbara of the Tower.  I have agreed to sponsor this contest and judging
will take place at the 2009 Kingdom Arts and Sciences Festival.

The objects are her icon--a painting in the Russian Medieval style--which
has a silver halo crowning her head, and her relic, a bone sliver, which is
in a small closed silver box.  The holder crafted by an SCA artisan must
contain both these objects and will be lightweight, yet sturdy, as the set
must be carried in religious processions several times per year and both
must be visible to the congregation.  A permanent (but cleanable) clear
covering (glass or Plexiglas or some such material) will protect both
elements from the weather (non-Medieval but practical for today's world).
At other times, the holder with the icon and the relic will sit on a table
in the nave of the church, to be always available to members of the
congregation for contemplative veneration.  The holder may be wood or metal
or a combination of the two.  (More than one artisan may combine skills to
craft this object.)

The holder will be in a style within our time period although the martyr's
story takes place much earlier.  Now who was Saint Barbara?  You can find
her (sometimes contradictory) stories on the Internet.  To greatly shorten
the Medieval tale (as told in Father John's letter) of the martyr become a
saint, she lived in Syria during the reign of Rome's Emperor Maximiam
(305-311 AD).  She was a beautiful daughter in a rich pagan family.  To
protect her, her father had her live in a tower.  She looked out the windows
at the beautiful world and began to think of the creator of all the beauty.
Her father let her meet girlfriends; she met a priest and secretly was
baptized a Christian.  The father directed workmen to build a luxurious
marble bathhouse and to place two windows up high on the south side, then
left on a trip.  Barbara directed the men to add a third window, to form a
Trinity of light.  The father came back; Barbara admitted why she wanted the
third window; the father tortured her and finally beheaded her since he
could not make her renounce her Christianity.  Many miracles occurred with
the bath water and while Barbara was in durance vile.  In Wikipedia, I
learned her symbols are many and many are those for whom she is a patron,
but especially is she connected to towers, which includes masons who build
them and artillerymen whose cannons knock them down.

Father John, our church contact and a religious art historian, has provided
photographs of the two objects and of the inside of the church to show its
style.  The holder needs to fit in with the other religious objects.

Website with the photos and Father John's letter:
http://www.kasf2009.com/stbarbara/.

My email: Ingeborg_sca at yahoo.com (if you prefer, I will email the letter and
photos to you).

THE CONTEST RULES:

   - Any SCA team or individual is welcome to enter this contest;
   non-Atlantians are welcome.
   - Teams (such as woodworkers and metalworkers) and individuals are
   invited to submit as a concept (on paper only) their plan for building a St.
   Barbara Medieval Russian Reliquary to hold both icon and silver relic box.
   The concept will include detailed drawings, examples of past projects to
   show the skill of the artisan or artisans (photographs are acceptable), and
   a date for completion of the reliquary.  Documentation for period and style
   is required. (Non-winning concept packages will be returned if an
   envelope/box with return postage is included.)
   - The reliquary must meet all specifications noted in Father John's
   letter.

--Here is my fast, incomplete summary: The reliquary is in the Medieval
style, with the exception of the protective "glass" cover over the 2
religious objects.  It holds both the icon (painting) which measures in
inches (16 1/2  H x 13 15/16 W x 1 1/2 D, plus silver halo 1/2" H) and the
silver relic box (2 1/2 W x 1 7/8 H x 1/2 D); fits at a slant on the church
display table (30 W x 29 D), and is both light and strong enough to be
carried and seen in processions.

   - Anyone who cannot attend the Kingdom of Atlantia's Kingdom Arts and
   Sciences Festival in person must supply a phone number at which he or she
   can be reached by cell phone during the day.
   - Father John of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church will choose the
   winning concept and be available for direct consultation with the winning
   team or individual.
   - The reliquary created will be freely given to the church.  The church
   will provide the winning artist or artists in a team with a letter (suitable
   proof for a tax donation) attesting to the artist(s) having crafted an
   object that will be used in their church on a daily basis, just as was done
   in Medieval times by our ancestors.
   - Deadline for the completed CONCEPT on paper:  March 7, 2009, Kingdom
   Arts and Sciences Festival for Atlantia (the first Saturday in March) at the
   Ag Center in Westminster, Maryland.  (If necessary, contact me to arrange
   shipping to me for the event. I will return concept packages that do not win
   if you provide a self-addressed container and return postage.)

 Artists of the SCA -- Here is your chance for a little bit of immortality:

"...the beautiful icons that adorn our church and the many ones on display
during the festival represent for us not art, but "windows to heaven." They
invite us in to stand in the presence of God and be touched by His Grace" --
Fr. John Vass, Pastor [bulletin for the 2008 Russian Festival]

Please pass this letter on to SCA artisans you know that would find this of
interest.

Yours in Service,

Lady Ingeborg i Trondheim

Sponsor: St. Barbara Project

The Barony of Bright Hills

Kingdom of Atlantia

Email: ingeborg_sca at yahoo.com
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