From war-torn Beirut and Ukraine to countries including Russia, Armenia and Brazil, women across the world are developing sacred art to bring messages of peace and solidarity, as well as preserving their cultural heritage.

And now, the first ever digital archive of women's iconography will be launched officially on March 10 as part of a series of events at Lancaster University Library to mark International Women’s Day (March 8).

Iconography is the oldest sacred art practice in the Christian tradition and was the only artform in use across the global Christian church until the Great Schism, the split between the East and West and the Catholic and Orthodox churches in 1054.

The archive, developed with Lancaster University Library's Digital Collections team, will be a permanent fixture on the University's digital archives: Women's Iconography in the 21st Century.

It is a significant platform as, researchers understand, there is no full-length study of female iconographers working today or in history.

The archive is part of an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded Impact Acceleration Account Project entitled Contemporary Women Icons, led by Associate Researcher Dr Azelina Flint and Senior Lecturer Dr Brian Baker at the University’s Department of English Literature and Creative Writing.

The project raises awareness of women’s understudied accomplishments in Orthodox iconography, a practice of Christian sacred art that was historically male dominated.

Known as ‘windows to eternity’ icons allow viewers to meet holy figures who gaze out at them from ‘an invisible world’.

The archive preserves the work of women from across the world, including Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Latvia, Lebanon, Greece, Finland, Mexico, Russia, the USA and the Ukraine, as well as the UK.

The archive captures the lives and spirituality of women across the world, who have burst onto the scene of Christianity's most ancient sacred artform in the last 50 years!

It is divided into two sections - traditional iconography and iconography-inspired sacred art that modernises the tradition using present-day techniques and depicting figures outside the traditional canon of sainthood.

Each section contains biographies, interviews, and photographic images relating to the careers of women who engage in the iconographic tradition alongside the history of the icon and how it is defined.

The archive also openly seeks connections with as many female iconographers as possible, with an invitation to be in touch for anyone who would like to be included in the archive.

Although Western Christians from a variety of denominations engage with a range of sacred art traditions, iconography remains the only art practice that is used by Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches. As such, it is the most widely used, cross-denominational Christian artform in the world.

Throughout their history, icons have been produced in male monastic communities, and in the Orthodox Church belong to a formalized ministry that was not made open to women until the twentieth century.

Prior to this period, women could assist male iconographers, including their husbands, in their studios. Nuns would occasionally work alongside monks in neighbouring monastic communities but would be assisting "maestros" in the development of large and complex works of art.

It is possible that women created icons privately, but very difficult to know definitively. Iconographers do not sign their work because they see themselves as divine instruments who record a revelation of a holy figure, or spiritual event, to which they have paid witness.

Historical icons are signed with the names of the holy figures they commemorate as marks of the iconographer's humility and veneration. Most male iconographers have also been lost to history except for a few great masters, who shaped and developed the tradition, like Andrei Rublev.

“Today, female iconographers actually outnumber male, and women are holding practice,” says Dr Flint.

“The launch of this archive means there is now dedicated repository for members of the public to see the significant contributions of women to this ancient artform.

“Many of the Ukrainian works that are included on the archive have sadly been destroyed in the Ukraine-Russia War, and so the archive holds the only public record of their existence.”

‘Contemporary Women Icons’ is the first publicly funded research project dedicated to supporting female iconographers. In May 2024 it funded the first International Roundtable of Women’s Iconography at Maynooth University featuring speakers from Ireland, Mexico and the United States.

It has also worked to bring the practice of icon-making to schools and community groups across Britain and Ireland. In the Spring Term, 2024 it facilitated a two-day icon-making course for secondary school students at St Wilfrid’s C of E Academy, Blackburn, which was led by two female iconographers from Epiphany Sacred Arts Guild (Canada).

The official launch, to showcase the new collection and talks by some of the iconographers, will take place at Lancaster University Library at 6pm. Please book your place here.

In the afternoon Dr Baker will run a free iconography workshop to introduce participants to the artform and associated practices. Please book here.

An icon is designed to immortalise a person who transformed people's lives, inspiring them to believe in something greater than themselves. Historically, icons have represented a narrow range of people, but this workshop will give participants the chance to iconise the women who have made a difference in their life and whom might not necessarily be seen on church walls.

Both events are free, and the evening event is open to attend in person or online.

Associate Director: Teaching and Engagement at Lancaster University Library Phil Cheeseman said: “This significant new digital collection is the culmination of a great partnership with the Library. It exemplifies our commitment to promoting University research, increasing the visibility of underrepresented communities and providing open access to collections.”