07 January 2009

FOUND!!! Theodora

I'm making a bulletin board for the Kinderworship Room for Rwanda, and I wanted to use my African doll. So, I got out the tub with my international dolls in it. As I'm digging, I unearth a box -- what is this? Oooo, I think I know! It's Theodora, whom I have been looking for since we moved from Olathe!

I've loved the story of Theodora ever since I took Eastern Orthodoxy with Dr. Bassett as seminary. A dancer and actress turned empress, Theodora was a controversial and influential figure in Christian history. She was a monophysite, but was married to Justinian, who was Orthodox. So, I'm ok with it. He built the first Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, now Istanbul.
I had this Barbie-saint phase for awhile, which I think I'm over (except for Ursula . . . I still want to do something with her), but I started Theodora based on the mosaic in Ravenna, Italy (image on right). The drawing on the left is one I did to develop what decorations and materials I should use. I didn't complete her before we moved to the parsonage next to St. Paul's. That was something like 2002! Well, here she is . . . . Beautiful!





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