EASTER

Motif: artistic creation of Easter iconography Presence of an egg in the Easter iconography has its origin in the ancient question: What came first the hen or the egg? To be sure, the question in reference to a present case refers to the binomial theorem of life and death and every existence crucified within. The privilege of dying have only those who lived; life is granted to those who passed through the gates of death. Good Friday and Easter Sunday are inseparable. They represent a promise and fulfilment of life, they bind together suffering and hope and guarantee the meaning of human existence. Easter is the most sacred of holy days in Christian ecclesiastical calendar, significant religious holiday in the church year representing utmost earnestness and a genuine joy. Nevertheless, an everlasting child in our soul is without fail brought to life by Easter festivities, and the human soul gladly becomes partial to joy. Although an egg has to be broken in order to start a new cycle of life, it represents an attribute of a religious holiday standing for promise – as long as intact, and inside the egg we can sense a process of growing, pulsing, pecking, while its perfect shape accommodated in a palm gives indescribable pleasure. Easter, celebrated by Christians is a significant holiday of promises and meaning, representing celebration of rejuvenation of nature: with buds, lambs, rabbits, chirping and gurgling. On the top of it all the egg represents perfect concentrated meaning of a holiday. In order to bring forth its message, it is transformed from nature into art: hand-painted, decorated with „words“ or simply „scribbled on“. In our parts a decorated Easter egg is called “pisanica”. The industrial era pushed back the old ways of egg decorating and you can buy ready made dyes and decorated stickers for the occasion. Nevertheless, still the anion rinds, red beet juice, saffron pollen, spinach leaves, are used for egg painting and with soft brown, red, violet ,yellow and green shades create a dialog between vegetable and animal kingdom. Not to mention various skills of impressing leaves and blades on egg’s shell, and wax painting techniques! The egg itself symbolises good wishes. Placed against a green background of a silky meadow or a table-cloth or simply surrounded by a new air with a tiny Easter twig and a chick cracked out of a shell, hand painted by the artist Sanja Rešček, the egg- the entire design – reach out with a warm Easter message of the Croatian Post