About the Iconographer

Brother Claude Lane is a member of Mount Angel Abbey, a community of Benedictine monks. Founded in 1882 from the Abbey of Engelberg, Switzerland, Mount Angel Abbey shares a monastic tradition which has been a vital part of the Catholic Church for more than 1,500 years. He is one of eighty-five members of the brotherhood, dedicated to a life of prayer and work in the service of God, of Church, and of the larger community. His specific work is that of the iconographer, or writer of holy images.

Brother Claude has been painting and drawing all of his life. He made his first vows as a monk in 1974. In the mid-1980s, Abbot Bonaventure Zerr asked him to write icons for his new Byzantine chapel, starting Brother Claude on a journey that would lead to his full-time work as the painter-artisan of Mount Angel Abbey.

Brother Claude works in the classic style of iconography, while adapting it to the pictorial needs of the West and the spirituality of the Catholic Church.