Orthodox Byzantine Icons of the Lord

Dear Beloved in Jesus,

In this topic, I will explain the Orthodox Byzantine Icons of the Lord

using skete.com website for orthodox Icons.

keep me in your prayers

:sm-ool-02:

Christ Blessing

http://www.orthodoxonline.org/forum/...2010/07/17.jpg

Date: 20th c. (Late) Heritage: Greek

Christ blesses us with His right hand, His fingers formed into the shape of the Greek letters "IC XC," the abbreviation in Greek for Jesus Christ, and He holds in His left arm a jewel-studded Book of the Gospels. From the prototype of the first icon of Christ, miraculously made by the Saviour Himself, He is traditionally shown with a short beard, and having long dark brown hair with reddish highlights, parted in the middle. His expression is serious but merciful, to evoke from us a serious and loving response, for the Truth is both sober and yet hopeful for us.

Christ is shown with an outer blue robe, symbolizing the Humanity that He put on at His Incarnation, and with an inner red robe, representing His Divinity that remains for all eternity. In the cross in the nimbus or halo around His head are the Greek letters for "I AM" to remind us that although Incarnate in time, Jesus Christ is God before the ages, even before Abraham, and He is the same God Who spoke with Moses face to face. May we frequently ask His Blessing upon all of our works, feelings, and thoughts, so that we may be blessed indeed

Christ the Prisoner

http://www.orthodoxonline.org/forum/...2010/07/16.jpg

Date: 20th c. (Late) Heritage: Greek

The original of this icon helps The Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry of Minnesota’s work touch the hearts of Christ’s fellow prisoners. The night before His Crucifixion, Christ was in a local prison, and is shown here as the Nymphios, or the Bride-groom, Whom we will all meet if we come to His Banquet in the Kingdom. The Church’s tradition is that the robes Christ wears in Glory are resplendent with the humility of His humiliation, mocking, beating, and Death on the Cross, and that is why the Nymphios icon is venerated on the first three days of Holy Week. At times we may forget that Christ came to teach us by His great example how to live a life filled with meekness, forgiveness, and humility.

We see Christ bound at the hands, and He holds the reed of the soldiers’ derision as a scepter, the Crown of Thorns as His wreath of victory, His opened robe as the raiment of transparent humility, and His humble look as a regal demeanor of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Whose Kingdom shall never end. Here is that Most Holy Peace that passeth understanding in visible form right before us! May we join Him in meekness today

Christ the Saviour (Russian)

http://www.orthodoxonline.org/forum/...2010/07/15.jpg

Date: 20th c. (Late) Heritage: Greek

Christ is blessing with His right hand, His fingers formed into the shape of the Greek letters "IC XC", the Greek abbreviation for "Jesus Christ". His blessing hand is turned inward as if to remind us that He is the Great Blessing, granting us an opportunity to repent and inherit eternal life. He is holding a Book of the Gospels in His left arm. It is opened to the passages reading "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge with righteous judgement. (John 7:24) For with what judgement you judge, you shall be judged." (Matthew 7:2)

Christ is traditionally shown with a short beard and long dark hair parted in the middle. His expression is serious, but not without mercy. Christ's outer robe is blue, to symbolize His humanity which he put on in His Incarnation, and His inner robe is red, to represent His divinity that He always was in eternity.

Christ Our God is the Saviour of all men who would be saved and who acknowledge their sinfulness, their need to be saved in truth by their own cooperation, and thus truly repent "for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand

Nymphios ("Bridegroom") (Half)

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Nymphios ("Bridegroom") (Full)

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Date: 20th c. (Late). Heritage: Greek


As a husband is to his wife so is Jesus Christ to His Church. His Crucifixion is His marital vow and His mockery and beating His wedding feast. The Bridegroom icon shows Christ stripped of His garments and clothed in a scarlet robe to mock Him. He wears a crown of thorns, causing blood to flow from the wounds. A reed is placed in His bound hands as a scepter.

In Christ's halo are the Greek letters for "I AM", to remind us that Christ was the All-Powerful God who freely chose to experience pain and death. For the first three days of Holy Week this icon is placed prominently in the Church to remind us of Christ's great love and great suffering. Like the Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins we await the Bridegroom's arrival and sing, "Behold, the Bridegroom, cometh at midnight. And Blessed is the servant whom He shall find awake. But He whom He shall find neglectful is verily unworthy. Beware therefore my soul, less thou fallest into deep slumber and the door of the Kingdom be closed against thee and thou be delivered unto death. But be thou wakeful crying, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy art Thou.’" (from the Bridegroom Matins

Great High Priest

http://www.orthodoxonline.org/forum/...2010/07/12.jpg

Date: 20th c. (Late). Heritage: Greek

"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) Christ, the Infinite and Unapproachable God, was incarnate to make Himself approachable and knowable through the ardent love of His followers and believers. It is His weakness and self-emptying “kenosis” while still Almighty and His willingness to suffer for our sake that touches the heart and mind to turn to Him for help in our weakness.

This type of icon depicts Christ wearing the robes of a bishop; the crown (miter) and stole (omofor or omophorion) decorated with crosses. 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. The fingers of His hand form the Greek letters "IC XC", the abbreviation for "Jesus Christ"

Pantocrator (Sinai)

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Date: 6th c. Heritage: Byzantine

Pantocrator" is the Greek word meaning "Ruler of All", and many icons of Christ are modeled after this original. Christ is traditionally shown with a short beard and long dark brown hair parted in the middle. Often in the earliest icons there can be some naturalistic elements such as visible shadow and regular skin tones even though the medium of icons always is somewhat abstract, trying to show in artistic forms the revelation of all things as they will appear at the end of chronological time. In this icon Christ’s nose, eyes, and neck are not merely naturalistic.

The Saviour has a serious and intent look, like the King of All looking upon His people. This detailed view of Christ's face shows a dignity on one side and a different arching of the eyebrows causing enlivenment on the other. The different impressions strike a harmony between His divine and human natures. Worked in an encaustic or a wax-melting technique, this great treasure from the sixth century is one of the earliest icons of Christ still in existence. It is preserved at St. Catherine's Monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai by the climate and lack of iconoclast persecution in that area

Christ Enthroned

http://www.orthodoxonline.org/forum/...2010/07/10.jpg

Date: 17th c. (Mid) Heritage: Cretan
L ocation: Byzantine Museum, Athens, Greece

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 priestly 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 upper part 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.

It is important to note that often when we focus on Christ’s amazing love for all creation, and His great condescension and humility in coming to us so approachably, we can lose sight of His Divinity, which was and is always present for those who see with sober sight and awesome awareness. May we see this also!

Reclining Child Jesus

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Date: 20th c. (Late). Style: Anapeson. Heritage: Greek

The Young Child is not sitting or lying down, but reclining to represent that He is not only the Great God or just a mere man, but simultaneously contains both Divine and human natures. Jesus' youth is portrayed by the lack of a beard, but the Divine Infant's facial features are those of an adult to portray that although He was born on earth as a little baby, He was always consciously the All-Knowing God. In Christ's halo are the Greek letters for "I AM" to remind us that this Infant is the God Before Time and is also the Peace of the World. In His left hand He hold a prophet's scroll to symbolize that He is the fulfillment of the prophets' words.

The “Anapeson”, or the Reclining Child Jesus on a couch, is a version of the famous 14th century fresco by Manual Panselinos, the foremost representative of the Macedonian school of iconography. This theme is inspired by Genesis 49:9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp...he stooped down, he couched as a lion...” which is considered as a prophecy of Jesus, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. This particular icon is traditionally found on the west wall when present in an Orthodox temple

Holy Napkin

http://www.orthodoxonline.org/forum/.../2010/07/8.jpg

Date: 20th c. (Late). Style: Holy Napkin. Heritage: Greek
L ocation: St. Anne’s Skete, Mt. Athos

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 of, that 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 944 when it was brought to Constantinople, and it is the pattern from which all subsequent icons of Christ are made