Orthodox Byzantine Icons of the Lord

Christ Enthroned (Detail of J49)

ملف مرفق 1603
Date: 20th c. (Late) / L ocation: Nea Skiti, Mt. Athos / Style: Deisis / Heritage: Greek

This brightly colored contemporary icon of Christ the Lord Enthroned is a detail of the Deisis (from the Greek word for Supplication) icon that was painted in 1992 at Nea Skiti on Mount Athos. This monastery follows the Skete or middle form of monastic life, part way between the ascetic eremetic life and the all things in common cenobitic life. This Skete life is the form of monastic life most praised at the beginning of St. John of the Ladder’s instructions on monasticism in the 7th century.

The Lord sits on His Throne in Glory as He will appear on the Day of Judgment to separate the sheep from the goats. He has an open Gospel Book signifying that His message has gone out over all the earth and this message has given the standard by which all men will be judged. His right hand is raised in blessing, and His fingers form the Greek letters “IC XC” which are an abbreviation for “Jesus Christ” and is the form in which Orthodox priests bless the Faithful. So we see Christ as the Merciful Lord on His Throne blessing all who come to follow Him, but gives us warning of the standards we must make our own to live with Him forever

"King of the Heavens & Great High Priest"

ملف مرفق 1604
Date: 20th c. (Late) / Style: Great High Priest / Heritage: Greek

This icon was painted by the Monk Michael from Mount Athos in 1988 and shows the Lord as both King of the Heavens and the Great High Priest for us on earth. Concerning why we need a Great High Priest, St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Hebrews, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

This type of icon depicts Christ wearing the robes, the crown or miter, and the stole (omofor or omophorion decorated with crosses) of bishops as they vest in church during the Divine Liturgy. Christ, the Great High Priest of His Church on earth, is shown holding an open Gospel Book in His left hand and blessing with His right hand. Majestic, serene, and loving is Our Lord, for although in Heaven, He is close, very close, to us here on earth

Our Lord Jesus Christ (Dionysiou)

ملف مرفق 1605
Date: 16th c. (mid) / L ocation: Dionysiou Monastery, Mt. Athos / Style: Deisis / Heritage: Cretan

From the Holy Monastery of Dionysiou on Mount Athos, this icon is the center of a set of icons called the Great Deisis, or Great Supplication, and was painted by the master iconographer Euphrosynos the Cretan in 1542. Deisis icons show the Lord facing outward in the center of a group of icons to the right and the left whose figures are turned towards Him with hands raised in supplication, for we know that it is only through prayer and supplication that our great infirmities of fallen humanity can be healed. This prayer reestablishes the normal and loving dependent relationship of man to God which was sundered in Paradise when Adam and Eve fell into a distorted and ficticious perception of the universe, deceived by Satan, or the Adversary, which sees our self-will and self-rule as desireable without a moment by moment dependence on God. What a terrible disease that we inherit and reaffirm by our own fallen ideas and perception. How terrible indeed!

This is a magnificent icon of Christ with no visible damage over the centuries. The Lord is blessing us with His right hand and His left hand holds a jewel-studded Gospel to teach us faith

Lord Jesus Christ (Jordanville)

ملف مرفق 1606

Date: 20th c. (Late) / L ocation: Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, New York / Style: Pantocrator / Heritage: Russian

A very striking contemporary icon, painted in 1992 by the Priest-monk Andrei. It resides in the Optina Elders Chapel at the Russian Holy Trinity Monastery near Jordanville, New York. This icon shows stylization in both Russian and Byzantine techniques and reveals how even today there are very fine icons still being produced, and now even in America.

Traditionally there are two positions for Christ’s right hand when giving a blessing: 1) when the fingers form the Greek letters “IC XC” which is an abbreviation for Jesus Christ and is the position that Orthodox priests and bishops give liturgical blessings, and 2) as is shown in this icon, when the lower two fingers come together with the thumb representing the Holy Trinity and the upper two fingers are together representing Christ’s two Natures, one upright representing His Divinity, one bent representing His Humanity. The Lord holds His Gospel to show us the verbal icon of His Life and His Teachings that we both venerate in church, and must more importantly venerate in our life by following His example to truly live an outward and inward Christian life

Holy Napkin (Jordanville)

ملف مرفق 1607
Date: 20th c. (Late) / L ocation: Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, New York / Style: Holy Napkin / Heritage: Russian

The Holy Napkin, or the icon “Not Made By Hands”, is the very first icon ever made, and it was made in a miraculous way by Christ. King Abgar of Edessa, from his kingdom neighboring Israel, had sent his court artist to invite Christ to come to Edessa when he heard that the Lord was being persecuted in Israel. The artist was also asked to bring back a portrait of Christ, because the king, who had leprosy, felt that if he could only see the likeness of this Man that he had heard so much about, he would be made well. The artist tried many times to capture His Face, but was unable, so the Lord Who loves man, knowing all things, took a cloth and brought it to His Face, and a true likeness was impressed on the cloth, which was sent to King Abgar and healed him. Thus this first icon was not made by human hands.

Later the Apostle Jude Thaddeus was sent to preach to this kingdom, and they converted to become one of the first Christian states. The original Holy Napkin cloth was kept in Edessa until a.d. 944 when it was brought to Constantinople, and it is the pattern from which all subsequent icons of Christ are made

Christ Pantocrator

ملف مرفق 1608
Date: 16th c. (Late) / L ocation: Kerkyra (Corfu), Greece / Style: Pantocrator / Heritage: Cretan

This beautiful icon of Christ as the “Ruler of All” or Pantocrator was made in egg tempera and has a fine reddish-hued gold background and bright clear reds and deep blues on the Lord’s clothes. His face is serene yet attentive and shows acute but loving awareness, for the Lord of Life is the witness to our every thought, word, and deed, yet is our best and dearest Friend.

He holds an open Gospel book in His left hand and blesses us with His right hand, especially when we listen to His Holy Gospel. Since the Holy Gospel is open, He is teaching us the very life that we are supposed to live for blessings in this world, sometimes easy and sometimes hard, and more importantly, for a life of blessings in the next world. The famous iconographer Michael Damaskinos, who was a native of Crete, painted this icon in the late 16th century and in the post-Byzantine Cretan style. In the years following the Fall of Constantinople to the Turks in a.d. 1453, there was a great flowering of the talent of displaced iconographers who worked in Crete, the Ionian islands, Venice, and other parts of Italy. This is quite a fine example of this type of iconography

Christ Pantocrator (Vatopedi Monastery, 13-14th c.)

ملف مرفق 1609
Date: 13th or 14thc. / L ocation: Vatopedi Monastery, Mt. Athos / Style: Pantocrator / Heritage: Byzantine

The original of this icon is almost four feet tall and is located in Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos, a peninsula in the Chaldiki region of northeastern Greece. Vatopedi is one of the twenty ruling monasteries on this monastic self-ruling community of Athos which has traditionally been an international community of monks from the whole Orthodox Christian community of believers. Much of the cultural treasures of Byzantium passed to Mount Athos at the close of the Byzantine Empire in a.d. 1453 with the conquering of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) by the Moslem armies. It has also been enriched by many other Orthodox kingdoms throughout its thousand year monastic history.

Christ holds a prophet’s scroll, for He is the fulfillment of the prophets’ yearning from the Old Testament for the final deliverance of Israel and its kingdom from amidst the pagan world. Christ brought far more in that He established a Kingdom that will never end, even after chronological time. “Pantocrator” is the Greek word for “Ruler of All” and indeed this is true, for Christ reigns eternally even now, for He opened the doors of Paradise

Icon "Not Made By Hands" (Simon Ushakov, 17th c.)

ملف مرفق 1610
Date: 17th c. / L ocation: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow / Style: Holy Napkin / Heritage: Russian

This wonderful icon of Christ’s image on the Holy Napkin is by the hand of Simon Ushakov (1625-1668), the founder of the famous Armory Icon School at the Moscow Kremlin. Ushakov was especially known for his mastery of the faces of the images in his icons, and this is a good example by his beautiful rendering of Christ’s lively and compassionate expression on His Face.

This icon refers to the early Church Tradition that Christ made an image of Himself by pressing His face to a napkin and sending it to King Abgar of the neighboring kingdom of Edessa. The king had leprosy and believed that if he could just see an image of Christ, Whom he had heard so much about, that he would be healed, and this healing came to pass (except for one small spot on his face) when the image came to him . Christ also sent him a message telling him that one of His Disciples would come later and instruct the king. After the Ascension, the Apostle Jude Thaddeus came and baptized the king and the people of his kingdom, so that Edessa became the very first Christian kingdom. The last spot of leprosy was also healed at the time of King Abgar’s baptism

Christ Enthroned with John the Baptist (Dionysiou Monastery, 17th c.)

ملف مرفق 1611
Date: 17th c. / L ocation: Dionysiou Monastery, Mount Athos / Style: Deisis / Heritage: Greek

One of a pair of bright 17th c. Greek Deisis icons (J59 and T67) from Holy Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos, this icon shows the Holy Forerunner and Baptist John with his hands upraised in prayer and supplication to Christ Who sits serenely and attentively on His Throne. We know from Holy Tradition (“therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle” [2 Thes. 2:15] ) that the Virgin and Birth-giver of God, Mary, stands on Christ’s right hand in the Kingdom, and St. John the Baptist stands on His left. This is why the Lord could not promise these places to the Sons of Zebedee, St. James and St. John, when they asked this of Him.

In this Deisis icon Christ is sitting enthroned as the Ruler of the universe, “for in that he put all in subjection unto Him” (Hebrews 2:8) as God’s Will is a simple state of reality that will be completely manifest at the end of this world. Reality is always self-evident, not really a vote or philosophical discussion, but we must agree to live in this Truth, or face ultimate alienation from all Life. This is the actual limit of freedom: to see Truth or remain blind

Great High Priest Enthroned

ملف مرفق 1612
Date: 20th c. (Late) / L ocation: Dormition Convent, Parnes, Greece / Style: Great High Priest, Enthroned / Heritage: Greek

The Lord Almighty sits on a throne as the Ruler of the universe, and in His left hand He holds an opened Gospel. With His right hand He blesses with the priest's blessing, the fingers of His hand forming the Greek letters "IC XC", which is the abbreviation for "Jesus Christ". In Christ's halo are the Greek letters for "I AM", for this is the King of Kings as spoken of in Revelation (1:8), "I am Alpha and Omega...saith the Lord, Which Is, Which Was, and Which Is To Come, the Almighty." On the four corners of the throne are symbolically represented the Four Evangelists: Matthew as a young man, Mark as a lion, Luke as an ox, and John as an eagle. All four have wings to portray their angelic nature and all carry Gospel books, for they proclaimed the Good News to the whole world through the Gospels that they have written.

Christ is wearing the robes, the crown or miter, and the stole (omofor or omophorion decorated with crosses) of bishops as they vest in church during the Divine Liturgy. Christ is the Great High Priest of His Church on earth, and the loving ruler of all who will lovingly be ruled by Him in their life. May we be among them