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cultures from all over the world. They are all dancing with an even larger size Christ.
Among the selected 90 saints are people like Malcolm X, Queen Elizabeth, Rumi, Ella
Fitzgerald, Gandhi, Anne Frank, Cesar Chavez, John Coltrane (of course) and
Sorghaghtani Beki, the mother of Kublai Khan. The artistic challenge was to translate the
ancient Byzantine stylization and bring it to fresh and contemporary places while still
honoring the ancient tradition. The iconographic difficulties of recognizable likenesses,
culturally diverse costumes, ethnic diversity and different spiritual traditions, all brought
together in a large scale work has given this project a unique place in the history of art
and religious iconography.”
Deacon Dukes, Iconographer