How we create the best icons boards - Icone Legno

One of the fundamental problems for the creation of an icon board is the choice of wood and the care of the gesso process.

The icon boards we produce are made of linden: a soft and workable wood, homogeneous and suitable for carving work by its nature.

After a careful selection of the raw material, special care is given to the natural ageing process which contributes to the long term stability of the icon itself. In order to guarantee further stability, icon boards are produced with dovetailed rear braces.

These braces are made using hardwood and are intended to counteract any natural bending of the board.

In our company we also boast the presence of an artigiano segantino (sawyer craftsman) that allows us to offer a completely handmade product where industrial machinery is completely replaced by hand tools. In this way the customer will have a unique, unrepeatable table that will allow him to get even closer to the tradition of icons.

The icon boards can be completely smooth or with "cradle", i.e. a raised kovcheg border is made in the middle of the board in order to leave an embossed frame on the edges.

With or without raised border, all icon boards according to the tradition can be presented either as smooth wood surface or hand-finished with traditional gesso.

DPP 0009 The gesso application or leukas is done manually due to the delicacy of the process. The icon board is first engraved to allow the lapin glue (animal glue) to penetrate the fibres. After the application of a special canvas, several coats of a mixture of gypsum composed of Bologna gesso and Meudon white are applied.

The finish includes a water-based paint with antitarlo, and a very accurate sanding, always done by hand, which makes the board ready to be painted.

On demand, icon boards can be realized with custom gesso processing.