Week Twenty-Two: The Good Shepherd by Eri Fragiadaki

June 1, 2019

Week Twenty-Two: The Good Shepherd by Eri Fragiadaki

As we continue our tenth anniversary series on artworks currently on view in the on-line Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, I have selected pieces for the month of June and the beginning of summer, depicting one of the "great outdoors" themes of the Bible. It is, of course, the story of the Good Shepherd, who makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside still waters. Greek Icon-maker Eri Fragiadaki portrays him as a beardless youth, carrying a sheep on his shoulders, as seen in many Early Christian depictions of the subject. Painted on a gessoed fragment of olive wood, the piece resembles an object of antiquity found in an archaeological dig. Eri and her mother, Eka, have set up the Angelicon workshop in the Cretan capital of Heraklion to produce quality, handmade icons at affordable prices. Samples of their work can be found on the Eka and Eri Fragiadaki page in the Sacred Artists section. (John Kohan)