"Christ of Herzegovina", acrylic on gesso board, Bishop Maxim, 2025

We often speak of light—Christ as light, the Saints who beheld it—but let us now see this as a portrait. What draws us is the gaze: a glance that meets ours and reads our heart, as we, in turn, read it like a dear friend. There’s a harmony—love, respect, understanding—that forms a quiet dialogue between viewer and image.
The more we gaze, the more it speaks: “Stamati, my Stamati.” A living axis forms between two eyes—ours and the portrait’s. It invites: “Come, speak to me. Pray.” Though the listening itself cannot be painted, the gaze is rendered with deep clarity.
There is no hesitation in the lines—especially in the hair and the light upon the cheeks and lids. The strokes, glowing with red and orange, reveal a confident hand—perhaps even a student of portraiture who has learned well the secret of bringing presence to the surface.
—Stamatis Skliris