Elena E. Mavrodieva has been painting icons for some time. She was born in Volgograd in 1974 and studied at the University of Moscow, where she got a M.A. in Bibliography and the History of Old Russian and Byzantine painting (1996). She also studied with Irina V. Vatagina and Vera Y. Karpova, two of the most important icon painters in present-day Russia. The training took place at the school associated with the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker founded on Maroseika Street in Moscow by the nun Iuliania (Maria Sokolova) to preserve the traditions of Old Russian and Byzantine painting. Elena learned how to use the canonically established technique and traditional natural materials. Most importantly, she learned how to understand and to recreate the spirit and the unique significance of the Orthodox icon.

From 1999 until 2002, when she came to the United States, Elena worked as an icon painter for the Volgograd diocese, while at the same time teaching iconography at the Tsarine Orthodox University of St. Sergei of Radonezh.

We decided to display on our website some of the most beautiful items in her portfolio. If you are interested in any of these icons, please contact the iconographer at evgeny@ufl.edu.