Creating an icon

For this special Christmas episode, In the Studio goes on a journey with one of the world's most renowned iconographers. Not just to witness the creation of a beautiful painting - but to witness a transformation. The moment a physical image becomes a religious icon - a prayer in paint that, for the faithful, acts as a door between heaven and earth.

Aidan Hart, a former hermit and Greek Orthodox monk whose icons you will find all over the world in churches and private collections - including that of Prince Charles - will paint an icon to celebrate the season of Advent.

Phil Pegum joins Aidan in rural England for five days as he paints a Christmas icon, and shares the secrets of the art form by explaining their symbolism and strange perspectives.

Presented and Produced by Phil Pegum for the BBC World Service