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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; They came in a small white van, encased in generic, flat wooden boxes. But once unloaded, unpacked and upright in the Chapel of Christ the King at King&#8217;s College, they drew the eye like a magnet.</p><p>&#8220;Just gorgeous,&#8221; The Rev. Thomas Looney said of the two life-size icons delivered to the school Thursday and set up behind the chapel alter. &#8220;I love the faces.&#8221;</p><p>The icons represent two religious figures key to King&#8217;s history and mission: Blessed Basil Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross which established King&#8217;s (along with other schools, including the University of Notre Dame) and Our Lady of Sorrows (Mary, the Mother of Jesus) one of three patrons of the Congregation.</p><p>Artist Grace Zazzaro said it took about 11 months to make the icons, which were rendered on custom poplar panels using paints she made herself in the egg tempera style, grinding minerals that provided the hue and blending them with an egg mixture. Once it fully hardens, she said &#8212; a process that could take years &#8212; it will be &#8220;impossible to remove.</p><p>&#8220;There are icons of this that have lasted 2,000 years,&#8221; she said.</p><p>The figures are drawn in a style blending Byzantine iconography with other influences, and she surrounded them with 23 karat gold leaf&#8212; an addition that may help account for the weight of the icons, about 70 pounds each.</p><p>The gold makes the icons appear to almost be floating, and with the overhead lights turned off at Zazzaro&#8217;s suggestion the colors took on a very different patina, the gold becoming more pronounces.</p><p>&#8220;It just pops,&#8221; Looney, campus ministry director, commented.</p><p>The icons will be blessed at a later date and are ultimately headed for the new chapel being prepared in the historic Memorial Presbyterian Church on North Street. That church will be officially named The Chapel of Christ the King at the George &amp; Giovita Maffei Family Commons, with a small wing of offices and a conference center under construction.</p><p>Looney said the icons are designed to be placed on each side of the large crucifix that will hang behind the altar in the new chapel, giving the appearance that each figure is looking toward the crucifix between them.</p><p>The crucifix for the new chapel is actually coming from the former Sacred Heart of Christ Church on North Main Street in Wilkes-Barre, clothed by the diocese despite lengthy and passionate efforts by members of the congregation to keep it in service.</p><p>The new chapel will also use an altar sculpted from a block of coal in 1956 by Charles Edgar Patience, giving it new prominence. That altar sits in a side meditation room in the current chapel, easily overlooked by visitors.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Artist Grace Zazzaro explains the egg tempera paint process she used to paint two life-size icons for King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Artist Grace Zazzaro explains the egg tempera paint process she used to paint two life-size icons for King&#8217;s College. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A close up of the face of the Our Lady of Sorrows icon created for King&#8217;s College </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon2.jpg</photo1><caption1>A close up of the face of the Our Lady of Sorrows icon created for King&#8217;s College </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Artist Grace Zazzaro and King&#8217;s College Father Thomas Looney look at the icons Zazzaro painted for Kings. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Artist Grace Zazzaro and King&#8217;s College Father Thomas Looney look at the icons Zazzaro painted for Kings. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">An anthracite alter at Kings. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL041919Icon4.jpg</photo3><caption3>An anthracite alter at Kings. Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Works will be used in school&#8217;s new chapel</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

New, life size icons delivered to King’s chapel