Inspirée par la passion
“I was born with a voice and a paintbrush in my soul. Music taught me emotion; the icon taught me silence. Between the two, I search for the light.”
My passions
Irina de Sofia
Between voice and light
After earning a Master’s degree in History and Literature, followed by another in Historical and Cultural Heritage, Irina Tonas-Pugnetti received the Prize of Excellence from the Academy of Arts and Music of Sofia.
She studied sacred art and pursued a path in iconography at the Yuriev Monastery in Novgorod, at the School of Iconography in Vladimir (near Moscow), and at the School of Icon Art in Saint Petersburg.
Born to a Russian father and a Bulgarian mother, she traveled across the Balkans and Europe in search of the works of icon painters preserved until the 19th century and remarkably well maintained to this day.
Her style, characterized by the vividness of colors and the delicacy of faces, adopts a dreamy and meditative expression in the gaze, while embracing the lyrical inspiration and dramatic intensity of the Russian tradition.
Her mastery of color and light, as well as the emotional strength expressed in her faces, leaves a powerful impression on admirers of iconographic art and testifies to an exceptional artistic value and an aristocratic elegance.