Page 9 - Demo

Foreword
This vibrant collection of portraits by the
celebrated iconographer and artist Bishop
Maxim features a gallery of pre-eminent
German personalities whose creative contribu-
tions throughout the centuries have gifted the
world in surprising ways and helped alter civili-
zation’s course, affecting the lives of millions who
may be completely unaware of them. The corre-
sponding exhibition, which will be held in Berlin
at the end of January, is a cultural event of nation-
al importance offering an opportunity for a fresh
appreciation and thanksgiving for centuries of
contributions of the German nation to the well-
-being of humanity.
Bishop Maxim’s eloquent brush transfers to
the canvas his keen iconographic sensitivity to
the subtle qualities of the human face that reveal
the character of one’s interior life and disposition.
He labors to make this visible in each of the fig-
ures featured, by choosing from his palate a joy-
ful panache of colors in ways reminiscent of the
impressionists Van Gogh, Kandinsky, and Ma-
tisse. By employing symbolic representations of
each figure’s unique contributions as background
and frame for the finely articulated facial expres-
sions, he manages to convey presence that invites
not merely observation, but an encounter. Lin-
gering in silence before the faces of each arouses
in the observer, the possibility of new self-aware-
ness elicited by the profound appreciation and
enhanced respect for the lifetime of dedication
and sacrifice of each person, born out of faithful-
ness to their encounter with the mystery that
moved their souls.
The portraits chosen, Einstein, Bismarck,
Goethe, Bonhoeffer, Hildegard of Bingen, Mozart
and others, bring together the enormous contri-
butions of world-renowned scientists, literary,
religious, and political luminaries revealing a
tapestry of unexpected creative gifts that have
since cross-potentiated in many ways to bring
blessings and new challenges to human life. All
together, they inspire and remind us that we are
each called to discover and be translators of the
unknown, to build anew on what has gone before
us, to be servants of the unique meaning and pur-
pose of our own lives which are meant to bring
benefit to others.
At a time when art is becoming more and more
conceptual and increasingly confined to digital
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