Monday 04 – Saturday 09 August 2025

Cost £400

The subject of this workshop is the Mandylion. (See image below). The Mandylion, meaning ‘small cloth’ or ‘towel’ is similar to Veronica’s veil and believed to have touched the face of Christ, retaining his features on the cloth. [No gold leaf is used on the beginner’s workshop.]

Intermediate Icon Workshop

Monday 11 – Saturday 16 August 2025

Cost: £ 430

The subject of this workshop is St Joseph and the Child Jesus. Students on the intermediate workshop should have previously attended the beginners icon course. This workshop includes practicing the technique of applying gold to the halos.

Advanced Icon Workshop

Monday 18 – Saturday 23 August 2025

Cost: £ 450

The subject of this workshop is the Baptism of Jesus. Students are required to have attended the intermediate workshop from this or previous years, to have a basic understanding of the techniques that Fr Alex will be using.

The maximum number of students per course is 14

We offer a series of six-day workshop, offering an opportunity to learn and practice the art of writing icons, in the contemplative calm of a Benedictine monastery, exploring the techniques and understanding of iconography. Each day will begin with a demonstration of the techniques to be used and the day is spent painting, with support and accompaniment from Dom Alex. The designs will be applied to the board, and the colour layers built up to complete the icon.

Cost

The cost for the teaching is indicated for each workshop, with a non-refundable deposit payable when booking. The price includes a prepared gessoed icon board. pigments, and gold leaf as indicated (intermediate and advanced levels)

Accommodation

We are pleased to make our new accommodation available for this workshop.

The cost is £70 per night for an ensuite room, including continental breakfast. The cost of full-board is £95.

The cost of meals for residents and non-residents are: lunch (two courses and coffee) £16; supper £12.

Tea and Coffee will be provided for all.

Icons Workshops at Belmont

We are happy to run regular Icon Workshops at Belmont run by the Peruvian Iconographer, Dom Alex Echeandía, who is a monk of Belmont and prior of our foundation outside Lima.

These Workshops offer the chance to learn and practice the art of writing icons in the contemplative calm of a Benedictine monastery.

Normally each year there are courses for Beginners and Intermediates. Each day Dom Alex will demonstrate techniques, then offer support and accompaniment in painting. The designs applied to the board will be built up with colour layers to complete the icon.

Dom Alex Echeandia is an Iconographer, trained in the UK and Ukraine. He studied theology at Blackfriars, Oxford. He is currently Prior of the Monastery of the Incarnation of at Lurin. Recent commissions include an icon of St Cuthbert for Buckfast Abbey, and he featured on the BBC4 Programme ‘The Monastery’ where he prepared an icon of St Michael. He leads workshops and retreats in Britain and Perú.