Also called: Religious Icon Painter, Byzantine Iconographer
Paints holy images for Orthodox and Catholic churches using egg tempera and gold leaf, following centuries-old rules for colors and poses.
You sand a wooden panel coated with chalk gesso until it is smooth as glass, then lay gold leaf for the halo. Over weeks you build a saint's face in thin layers of egg-yolk paint, praying as you work. A new church has commissioned 30 icons for its walls, which will take you two years.
Mostly self-employed; large church commissions pay much more.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
No formal education, about 0 years after high school. No degree needed; years of apprenticeship or workshops with a master iconographer.
Ways in: Apprenticeship, Self-taught. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Fine Arts, Theology.
Growing about average. A tiny craft; new churches and parishes commission work.
Low risk for 10 years. Printed icon copies already exist; hand-painted icons made in a living prayer tradition stay human.
Classes: Art (painting), World history, Chemistry (pigments).
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1013.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.