Reitlinger

Joanna Reitlinger

(Image courtesy of Anastassy Brandon Gallaher, Oxford University http://www.oocities.org/sbulgakovsociety/)

Sister Joanna Reitlinger

Sister Joanna Reitlinger, born Julia Nikolayevna Reitlinger, was a Russian émigré artist and iconographer whose work played an important part in the revival of Orthodox Christian art in Western Europe during the twentieth century.

She was born in St Petersburg in 1898 and died in Tashkent in 1988. Following the Russian Revolution, she left Russia and eventually settled in Paris, where she became closely connected with the Orthodox theological and spiritual community centred around the St Sergius Institute.

Her life and work were particularly influenced by Fr Sergei Bulgakov, the renowned Orthodox theologian. Their friendship and spiritual relationship remained important throughout her life.

Early Life and Artistic Formation

From childhood, Reitlinger showed a strong interest in art. She studied at the Society for the Advancement of Artists in St Petersburg and later continued her artistic education in Europe.

In Paris she studied with the French artist Maurice Denis, whose teaching influenced her understanding of composition and religious art.

However, Reitlinger's principal artistic interest was the revival of Orthodox iconography. She sought to understand the tradition of Orthodox icon painting while also exploring how it could be expressed through the work of a contemporary artist.

A visit to an exhibition of ancient Russian icons in 1929 had a profound influence on her. The experience strengthened her desire to develop an approach to icon painting that was rooted in the tradition of the Church while allowing for genuine artistic expression.

Sister Joanna

In 1934, Reitlinger became a nun and took the name Joanna. She continued to describe herself simply as “Sister Joanna”.

Her religious life and her artistic vocation became closely connected. She understood her work as an iconographer not simply as an artistic profession, but as part of her Christian calling.

She produced icons and other religious works in France, England and Czechoslovakia, as well as later in the Soviet Union.

Her work was influenced by the traditional iconographic heritage of the Orthodox Church, while also showing a distinctive personal style.

Connection with Fr Sergei Bulgakov

Reitlinger was closely associated with Fr Sergei Bulgakov, living for many years within the community surrounding the St Sergius Institute in Paris.

Bulgakov's theological writings on the Church, iconography and Christian art were an important influence on her thinking.

Their relationship was part of a wider Orthodox intellectual and artistic community in Western Europe, which included theologians, artists and clergy seeking to renew Orthodox Christian life while remaining rooted in the tradition of the Church.

The Frescos at the Fellowship of Saints Alban and Sergius

One of Reitlinger's most important surviving works is the cycle of frescos she painted in 1947 for the Fellowship of Saints Alban and Sergius in London.

The cycle depicts scenes from the Apocalypse, drawing on the Book of Revelation and the Christian understanding of the life of the world to come.

These frescos are particularly significant because they represent Reitlinger's vision of monumental Orthodox Christian art.

The frescos were later transferred to Saint Anne's Orthodox Christian Parish in Northampton, where they are now preserved and form an important part of the church's interior.

You can see photographs and further information about the frescos on our Frescos page.

Reitlinger and Orthodox Christian Art

Reitlinger believed that Orthodox iconography could remain faithful to the tradition of the Church while also being expressed through the creativity of individual artists.

Her work therefore belongs to the wider revival of Orthodox Christian art that took place among Russian émigré communities in Western Europe during the twentieth century.

Her artistic legacy includes icons, church decoration, frescos and other religious works.

Return to Russia

In 1955, Reitlinger returned to the Soviet Union and eventually settled in Tashkent.

The circumstances of her later life were very different from those of her years in Western Europe. She supported herself through artistic work, including painting designs for silk scarves, while continuing to paint icons.

Later in life she renewed her participation in the sacramental life of the Orthodox Church and returned increasingly to icon painting.

She also maintained important spiritual relationships, including with Fr Alexander Men, who became one of the notable Orthodox Christian figures in the Soviet period.

Later Life

Reitlinger continued to paint icons into old age.

Despite the difficulties of her later years, her spiritual and artistic vocation remained central to her life.

She died in Tashkent in 1988.

Her work is now recognised as part of the history of twentieth-century Orthodox iconography and of the revival of Orthodox Christian art in Western Europe.

For Saint Anne's, her legacy has a particularly tangible presence through the preservation of her 1947 fresco cycle, which was transferred to Northampton in 2016.

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