This work of Ritsos, is it a novel with an emphatic question-mark added by the poet himself? Is it a roman fleuve in the sense of Proust`s Remembrance of Things Past? Is it a wild prose-poetic fling in a `sarcastic climate`? Or is it an autobiography of Greece`s most human poet, whom Aragon hailed as the `greatest poet of his time`? And what about the strange title? How are the established Orthodox saints, traditionally decorating the panels near the altar, how are they replaced by anonymous human beings? - everyday people from Ritsos` neighbourhood; members of his large family and simple inhabitants of Monemvasia; unassuming fellow-prisoners on exile islands and a closely-knit band of friends.
All these `anonymities` are skillfully counterpointed with the hero - Ion - and Ion`s alter ego - Ariostos - and woven into a fascinating tapestry of reminiscences and reflections, vivid memories from childhood and adolescence, speculations on Greece`s recent history, confessions bordering on psycho-analytical introspection, and, occasionally, surrealistic dreams. Ritsos` Iconostasis is embellished with an almost Joycean richness of words, including outrageous puns, unprecedented, though ineffably `poetic`, erotica and miraculous flights of language.
In the third volume, still to appear in English, Ritsos adds the finishing touches to his vast mosaic bringing his visionary cycle full circle.

[Απόσπασμα από κείμενο του εκδότη]