Isaac Fanous (; December 19, 1919 – January 15, 2007) was an Egyptian

Copt Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since Ancient history, antiqui ...

artist and scholar, who specialized in

Coptic art Coptic art is the Christian art of the Byzantine-Greco-Roman Egypt and of Coptic Christian Churches. Coptic art is best known for its wall-paintings, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, and metalwork, much of which survives in monasteries an ...

and founded its contemporary school.

Early life and teaching

Fanous was born in Al-Minya and moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

to gain his degree from The Faculty of

Applied arts The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univers ...

now part of

Helwan University Helwan University is a public university based in Helwan, Egypt, which is part of Greater Cairo on over . It comprises 23 faculties and two higher institutes in addition to 50 research centers. Overview Helwan University is a member of the E ...

in Egypt in 1941 and got a diploma in teaching in 1943. Fanous was one of the first students of the

Institute of Coptic Studies The Institute of Coptic Studies (معهد الدراسات القبطية) was founded in 1954 by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is based in Cairo. Description The institute is the Egyptian church's main research centre in subjects ...

founded in 1954 and he obtained his doctorate in 1958 . His two-year study grant in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in the mid- 1960s was a turning point in his career. He took the opportunity, while in France, to study icon painting under Léonid Ouspensky, under whose patronage he developed a passion both as artist and theologian. This would lead, eventually, to him developing a style that was to become the new face of

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

in the mid-20th century.AlAhram weekly article on Isaac Fanous
Fanous chaired the Coptic Art department at the

, and he has trained a number of other

ic artists from outside Egypt.

Political changes

As wealthy patrons of the arts disappeared from Egypt's hitherto cosmopolitan art world following the 1952 revolution, they were replaced by the state, and the career of Fanous took off from the struggles and experiences of his time. That is to say, he became more keenly aware of his Egyptian heritage. He was proud of everything that comes from Al-Minya since the time of Akhnaten, who built his city in this area.Copts United article in Arabic by Shafik Botrous
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Modern Coptic iconography

For centuries before painters like Isaac Fanous the

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

church had its own style which is recognised as The Coptic style. Under the influence of the European art spread to Egypt in the nineteenth Century there are a lot of the Churches in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

which have

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

s that are similar to a lot of the European (Western) Christianity Iconography style. Fanous's contemporary school of icon painting came about as part of a general renaissance of Coptic culture which began during the patriarchate of

Pope Cyril VI ''This article uses dates and years written in the Coptic calendar, using the A.M. (Anno Martyrum) calendar era, in addition to the Gregorian calendar, using the A.D. (Anno Domini) calendar era.'' Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria also called Abba Ky ...

(1959–1971). He capitalised on the already established Coptic style which could be seen in historic Coptic Churches, but in his own style which he developed over the years. The style of his painting is called Modern Coptic style and as he was a pioneer in this field Fanous is considered the father of modern Coptic icon painting and the initiator of the modern renaissance in

. Fanous drew all the pictures and icons in St. Takla Haymanot's Church in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, which was consecrated in 1969. Between 1977 and 1978, he spent six months in the UK to paint icons i
St Mark's Coptic Orthodox church
in Allen Street,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, London. Image:StAnthony.jpg, Coptic icon of

Saint Anthony the Great Anthony the Great ( grc-gre, Ἀντώνιος ''Antṓnios''; ar, القديس أنطونيوس الكبير; la, Antonius; ; c. 12 January 251 – 17 January 356), was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is d ...

Image:StMaurice2.jpg, Coptic icon of

Saint Maurice Saint Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that Ma ...

References

External links

Obituary for Isaac Fanous in Al Ahram daily newspaper in Arabic

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929151907/http://www.stmark.org.uk/index.php?option=com_copperminevis&Itemid=45&place=thumbnails&album=3 St Mark's Coptic Orthodox church website , which includes a gallery of the Icons of the church ]
Coptic Icons.

The Coptic Icons from Holy Virgin Mary Church in Los Angeles
*http://www.copts-united.com/wrr/go1.php?subaction=showfull&id=1169064300&archive=&start_from=&ucat=79& *http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cce/id/2162/rec/1 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanous, Isaac Egyptian people of Coptic descent Coptic Christians from Egypt Art historians Coptic art 1919 births 2007 deaths Academics from Cairo Artists from Cairo Helwan University alumni Icon painters 20th-century Egyptian painters

Early life and teaching

Political changes

Modern Coptic iconography

See also

References

External links