By Bonnie J. Toomey
Correspondent
CLINTON — The Museum of Russian Icons, located at 203 Union St., across from Central Park, on Saturday will open an exhibit of 30 icons from its permanent collection that museum officials say are not typically on view — saints celebrated by the Orthodox Church.
Laura Garrity-Arquitt said some of the icons have been displayed in the last couple of years, some well before that, and some will be making their debut.
“For this exhibit, we looked into an area we haven’t quite explored yet, the lives and the nature of the saints, and we found the saints that best helped us tell the story,” said Garrity-Arquitt.
Saints such as Nicholas and George, Simeon the Stylite, and St. Mary of Egypt will be exhibited along with accompanying texts of their unique stories.
“Simeon is a fun one. He was a monk as a young teen in a hermitage living in solitude, but it is said his ascetic feats were extreme, to the point that they were disruptive to the community. It was decided he should leave there and live in the wilderness, which he did,” she said.
The son of a shepherd, Simeon the Stylite was born in Turkey around A.D. 390 and was a Syriac ascetic who lived 47 years on top of a pillar near Aleppo.
“He was sought after by younger monks, and so he was surrounded by pilgrims and students, yet seeking solitude. He moved from his hut and found an old 9-foot pillar and climbed to the top of it and he lived there praying and fasting,” she said.
Simeon was the first saint to live in this manner and it created a movement of young saints who followed his practice.
“They called themselves Stylites,” said Garrity-Arquitt.
St. Mary of Egypt’s story is equally fascinating, she said.
“Our curator is fond of her story,” said Garrity-Arquitt of Kent dur Russell, the museum’s CEO. “It’s one of his favorites.”
“She was a sinner, living life her own way, and when she tried to enter a church but wasn’t able to — an invisible barrier prevented her. It’s said that she received a vision from the mother of God, Mary,” said Garritty-Arquitt.
St. Mary of Egypt, the patron saint of penitents, (A.D. 344-421) a figure who would become the subject of plays, operas, literature and Mahler’s 8th Symphony, renounced her ways and crossed the River Jordan where she went into the desert to live an ascetic life for almost 50 years.
“She does this and lives out there until her clothes turn to rags and fall away. After 47 years, she is approached by a monk, Zosimas, and so she hid herself and said, ‘Please don’t come any nearer, I have no clothes,’ and he gave her his outer cloak and gave her communion,” she said.
When the Palestinian monk, also called “Zosima,” asked Mary what he could do for her, she asked that he return in one year.
“But when he does, he’s too late, arriving a day after she’s died. He wants to bury her, but he doesn’t have the strength,” she said. “And it is said that a lion came and dug the grave for him.”
The story of St. Mary of Egypt is told in four iconic scenes.
“Mary naked in the desert, the second one meeting Zosimas and clothed, in the third one she receives communion, and the last one is the lion and him digging the grave,” she said.
The icons depict verses of the Bible and put each into illustrated storyboard format, a great device. They range in size — the Mary icon is fairly small, but 12 inches tall by 10 inches wide is a standard size for a personal icon.
“Most of the icons in this exhibit would be … in a beautiful corner in someone’s home — the easternmost corner of the home with devotional objects like candles, prayer books, and incense,” she said.
The presence of icons is a living tradition.
“Orthodox homes have beautiful corners to this day. They haven’t changed, though some can’t afford egg tempera on wood, so you might see paper wrapped high-end prints glued to wood for instance, when the need was high and the funds were low — so people could get these icons into their homes. In this exhibit, we have a lithograph on tin from 1898,” said Garrity-Arquitt.
She said the many of the icons have survived, and they show up at auction quite often.
“The printing they do today is beautiful. We sell them in our shop,” she said.
Originally the museum’s collection was put together by its founder, Gordon B. Lankton, who was president of NyproMold Inc., and an art collector. He founded the museum in 2006, after amassing a collection spanning six centuries. Lankton built factories worldwide, one in Russia.
“It was his real encounter with the culture and people, and he fell in love,” she said.
The businessman found an icon at a flea market in Russia. He bought it, took it home and studied it. He collected over a hundred, and in the beginning, he hung them on the walls of his home. Soon there wasn’t room left. He didn’t want the collection to get broken up or to stop collecting, so he decided instead to build a museum.
“He chose Clinton because his factory was here, and he had a great relationship with his workers, and he felt that he owed it to the people of Clinton, who’d made his factory successful,” she said.
Lankton, who is in his mid-80s, still visits the museum every day. Garrity-Arquitt says she continues to learn much from the collection itself: history, culture and the Orthodox faith, a large part of Christianity largely unexplored in the West.
“But from Gordon I’ve learned you can find beauty in other cultures by studying the work of other cultures’ artistic expression and their works of faith. And in a way the icons document the history of Russia, its people, important battles incorporated into many saints’ stories — everybody from the lowliest serf to the highest tsars had Russian icons in their homes. It connects everybody.”
Asked which icon is her favorite, Garrity-Arquitt admits that she is always stumped because she works so closely with the collection.
“We have an interesting icon that holds a high place, it’s made entirely out of amber; all put together almost like a mosaic, of a new saint, Xenia, a beautiful little icon. It’s brand new, made in 2010 by one of the artists who was rebuilding the Amber Room, Catherine the Great’s room, in St. Petersburg. [The original] disappeared during World War II. The Nazis looted it,” she said.
But in 2003 it was recreated using photos. The icon was crafted by one of the artists, there are several of them, so it’s not signed.
“But it is beautiful. It’s so unique because it’s not painted, and made from many shades of amber,” she said.
Most of the time preparing for the exhibit has gone into research and writing, and right now, as Garrity-Arquitt is in the midst of hanging. The walls have been cleaned and repaired and touched up, and the work is a little bit less involved.
“The icons already have hanging hardware on them, they’re not as big, but it really comes down to lighting, and our curator is going to do that, so their true beauty shines. It’s amazing; the lighting makes all the difference,” she said.
The exhibit was dreamed up nine months ago.
“We had a space we needed to fill; all the research was there,” she said. “The first thing to do was to come up with the story and we put an outline together with the basic types of saints — saints of the Bible — martyrs, church fathers, spiritual leaders and ascetics,” she said.
Text and an audio tour will give extra information for those who want to delve deeper, and docents will be on hand for any deeper questions.
“People can ask as many questions as they like, and we will have resources and books that folks can read even further,” said Garrity-Arquitt.
Although she has been involved with these exhibits for years, she is still struck by the icons.
“Even the best photos don’t capture their beauty, and once they are on walls and properly illuminated its still breathtaking — every time …,” she said. “I always take some time to sit in an exhibit and decompress a little and appreciate what it is from another standpoint. It’s going be fascinating.”
“Holy Fools to Wonder Workers: Saints of the Orthodox Faith,” opening Saturday, on view until February, Museum of Russian Icons, 203 Union St., Clinton. Visit www.museumofrussianicons.org.
Weekend Best Bets
Dining & Entertainment
Bruce Marshall Group w/ Special Guest Britt Connors: Friday, 8 p.m. Bull Run Restaurant, Shirley. Go to tickets.bullrunrestaurant.com
Also at Bull Run:
* Joey & Maria’s Comedy Italian Wedding: Saturday, 6 p.m.
* Melissa Ferrick: Saturday, 8 p.m.
* Five Cents Extra Reunion: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Audio Wasabi featuring Ryan Murphy: Thursday, 9 p.m. Gardner Ale House, 74 Parker St.
Also at Gardner Ale House:
* Sturdy Moss: Friday, 9 p.m., Saturday, 9 p.m.
* Thanksgiving Harvest Festival: Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
* Gale County: Saturday, 9 p.m.
* Brunch with Chet Williamson and Jimmy Morrell: Sunday, 9 a.m., live music begins at 10 a.m.-1 p.m.Gardner Ale House, 74 Parker St.
* Blue Monday: L&M Rhythm Kings, 7 p.m.
* The Night Before Thanksgiving: Live Music acts and free buffet, 9 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Teacher Appreciation: Thursday night, Café Destaré Martini Bar, 320 Main St., Fitchburg. Visit www.destare.com.
Also at Café Destaré:
* Blues Jam: Thursday, 8 p.m.
Swing Dance
The Love Dogs Band: Swing Dance Lesson, Sunday, doors open at 6 p.m., Leominster Elks Lodge, 134 Main St. Call 978-728-4533.
Shows
Righteous Brothers: Friday, 8 p.m., Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Worcester. Visit thehanovertheatre.org.
Exhibits
Plastic Imagination: Fitchburg Art Museum, 185 Elm St. fitchburgartmuseum.org
Also at Fitchburg Art Museum:
* “Evoking Eleanor”: The Art, Life, and Legacy of FAM Founder Eleanor Norcross
* Neil Rantoul: “Monsters”
“Two Imperial Icons”: On view until May 2017 at Museum of Russian Icons, 203 Union St., Clinton.
Picket Fence to Picket Line: Visions of American Citizenship, on view until Feb. 6, 55 Salisbury St. Worcester Art Museum. Visit www.worcesterart.org.
Also at Worcester Art Museum:
* Renoir: The Jewish Wedding
* Facing the World: Modern Ideas and Splendor in Meiji, Japan
* Knights: Through Nov. 6
Find Your Park: National Parks in New England: Fruitlands, 102 Prospect Hill Rd., Harvard. Visit www.fruitlands.org.
Comedy
Bethany Van Delft and Friends: Friday, 9 p.m.; Saturday, 8 p.m., 257 Park Ave., Dick Doherty’s Comedy Escape, visit Worcester. Worcester.laughstub.com
Classical
Bach’s Lunch Concert: All-American Music, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Littleton HS Performing Arts Center, 56 King St. Littleton. Call 978-486-9524 or visit indianhillmusic.org.
Also at Indian Hill:
* Performance Workshop: Saturday, 1 p.m.
* Song Share: Saturday, 7 p.m.
Pianist, David Deveau: Schubert, Kalliroscope Gallery, 264 Main St. Groton, Saturday, 8 p.m. For more info visit indianhillmusic.org
At the Library
We the People Massachusetts: Thursday, 7-8:45 p.m., 30 West St. Leominster Public Library.
Also at Leominster Library:
* Evening Book Sale: Thursday, 6-8 p.m.
* Leominster Community Coalition: Monday, 1-2:30 p.m.
* Material Girls Quilt Guild Board Meeting: Monday, 6-8:30 p.m.
* Leominster Meditation: Tuesday, 7-8 p.m.
Genealogy Help: Thursday, 12:30-4 p.m. 610 Main St. Fitchburg Library.
Also at Fitchburg Library:
* Knit and Crochet: Thursday, 1-3 p.m.
* Finnish Language Practice: Monday, 6-7:50 p.m.
* Color Me Zen: Tuesday, 6-7:30 p.m.
* Peer Support Meeting: Wednesday, 10-11 a.m.
“Zombielocks”: Rated R. Friday, 7 p.m. presented by Neon Dolphin Productions. Call 978-582-1578 or visit drawbridgepuppets.com.
Family Best Bets
Pinocchio: Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. and noon, Wednesday, 10 a.m. Drawbridge Puppet Theatre, 1335 Mass Ave., Lunenburg.
Kid’s Audio Tour & Alphabet Gallery Guide: 203 Union St., Clinton. Visit www.museumofrussianicons.org.
Read to Your Bunny Story Time: Thursday, 10-11 a.m. Leominster Public Library, 30 West St.
Also at Leominster:
* Woof!: Friday, 10-11 a.m. Ages 3-5, please register.
* Young Writers Workshop: Saturday, 2-4 p.m. Please register.
* Baby and Me: Peaceful Baby and Beyond with Sheryl White of Baby Kneads, Monday, 10-11 a.m.
* Family Movie Afternoon: Tuesday, 2-4 p.m.
* Preschool Story Time: Tuesday, 10-10:30 a.m.
* Amazing Girls Book Club: Tuesday, 7-8 p.m.
* Free Play LEGO Day & Kids Coloring: Wednesday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Lego Club: Thursday, 3:30-4:30 p.m., 610 Main St., Fitchburg Library.
Also at Fitchburg Library:
* Beginner Bookworms: Thursday, 4:30-5:30 p.m.
* STEAM Play at the Garden: Friday, 10:30-11:30 p.m.
* 3D Printing for Homeschool: Friday, 11:30a.m.-12:30 p.m.
* Gaming: Friday, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
* “Crafts for Kids”: Presented by Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Ladies Auxiliary, Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
* Read! Build! Play! with Duplos: Monday, 10:30-11 a.m.
* Maker Mondays: Monday, 4-5 p.m.
* Pokemon Game Night: Monday, 6-7 p.m.
* Story Time: Tuesday, 10:30-11 a.m.
* Afternoon Crafts: Tuesday, 4-4:45 p.m.
LEGOS at the Library Club: Thursday, 6-7 p.m., 1023 Main St., Lunenburg Library.
Also at Lunenburg Library:
* Preschool Story Time: Monday, 11a.m.-12 p.m.
* Board to Death: Teen Board game Night, Tuesday, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
* PJ Story Time: Tuesday, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
* Little Tykes Story Time: Wednesday, 11-11:30 a.m.
Check your local libraries for passes and special events.
