“Angela Manno's recovery of the classical mystical tradition through
icon painting and projection into the future with her
images of the Earth from space is a profoundly creative and spiritual
interpretation of our present situation. This image of the Earth from
space is our new icon.”
— Dr. Ewert Cousins, professor of Theology, Fordham University; former
President, American Teilhard Association

Thirty years ago, astronauts revealed a stunning image of a tiny blue
orb suspended against the black backdrop of space—planet Earth. This
first glimpse of “home,” in all its ineffable beauty and fragility, awed
and forever changed our view of the world. Inspired by this
spell-binding image, artist Angela Manno has created an exquisite
contemporary icon to commemorate the new millennium. A practitioner of
the ancient art of Byzantine-Russian iconography for nearly a decade,
Manno rendered this image of the whole Earth in the same liturgical
method and material used to create traditional icons -- egg tempera,
natural pigments from ground-up stones and 23k gold leaf on wood. “As
we begin a new Millennium,” says the artist, “it is important to know
that this generation and the ones that immediately follow are helping to
lay the foundation for the next thousand years. The Earthly Paradise can
help develop a reverence for our beautiful planet and consecrate this
new era to achieving our full potential -- that of peace and harmony
among all people and between humanity and the Natural World.”

This unique and contemplative art piece will grace any mantel, home
altar or place dedicated to quiet reflection.

Each 12" x 12" piece is made to order. To learn about commissioning The Earthly Paradise, contact the artist at: amanno@angelammanno.com


REFLECTIONS:

“ ... a luxuriant Earth community, mutually-enhancing in all its layers
and levels of life and being, where the minds of the universe are
safeguarded and nurtured; where the creativity of each nation of
every species is energized for the total vibrancy and joy of the whole
community of beings.”
— Thomas Berry, Cultural Historian from The Dream of
the Earth

“It's so small and so fragile and such a precious little spot in that
vast universe that you can block it out with your thumb, and you realize
that on that small spot, that little blue and white thing, is everything
that means everything to you-all of history and music and poetry and art
and death and birth and love, tears, joy, games - all of it on that
little spot out there and you can cover it with your thumb. And you
realize that from that perspective you've changed, that there's
something new there, that the relationship is no longer what it was.”
— Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut