12 Icons from Bulgaria

The Icon, so closely linked with the ritual of the Eastern Orthodox Church, has always been held as something sacred in purpose and design. Though never idolized, it was venerated as the image of a pattern sent down to earth by the divine mind.

The history of icon painting in mediaeval Bulgaria cannot be found in books or chronicles.Historians of art, Byzantologists, artists and people who appreciate art turn directly to the icons preserved in Bulgarian churches and monasteries, or displayed in the collections of museums, for more light on this great art.