The uncreated Light
23¾ karat gold in hand-painted icons
In an icon gold is not luxury: it is theology. It represents the uncreated Light, the glory of God in which the scene is immersed. That is why real gold leaf is used, at a purity of 23¾ karats, and applied first, before any colour.
Why 23¾ karats
Pure gold is 24 karats. Gilding gold at 23¾ karats contains about 99% gold: the highest purity compatible with beating it into ultra-thin leaves. It has the warm, deep colour of pure gold and, like pure gold, does not oxidise or darken over time.
Gold leaf, shell gold, gold paint
Gold leaf
Metal beaten into ultra-thin sheets and laid by hand on the panel: the gold of grounds and halos.
Shell gold
Ground gold bound with a medium, applied by brush for fine lines and highlights on garments.
Gold paint or ink
Non-gold metallic powders or poor alloys: bright at first but darkening over time. Not used in authentic icons.
An icon wholly in gold
Every icon by Concetta Basile is fully gilded: 23¾ karat gold envelops the ground, the halos and the incised decoration, as in icons with scrollwork grounds. It is the uncreated Light embracing the whole scene.
Decorated gold ground
Scrollwork incised in the gilded ground.
Worked gold ground
Detail with incised decoration.
Border with inscription
Gold and Greek inscription.