The veneration of icons has a long history, but believers pray not to the icon itself, but to the saint who is depicted on it, especially if it is an icon of Jesus Christ. Essentially, an icon is an image of Jesus Christ in His human incarnation.
The Christian Church survived the era of iconoclasm (8th - early 9th centuries), when icons, including icons of Jesus Christ, were considered “idols”, and their veneration was idolatry. Iconoclasts destroyed not only icons, but also frescoes, mosaics, paintings in churches with images of the Savior and saints, which is why, most likely, the first icon of Jesus Christ has not reached us. However, the Ecumenical Councils of 787 and 843 condemned iconoclasm, and icon painting received a powerful impetus for development. Here are the main types of icons depicting Jesus Christ and their names.
Good Shepherd. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
The picture of Jesus from the Bible shows a simple peasant who came down from heaven and is not an earthly king. The Lord appears to us in simple clothes, often in a robe. In the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna there is a mosaic depiction of a slightly different Jesus.
The building, originally intended to be the tomb of the Roman Empress, was built around 430. The interior is richly decorated. The ceiling has blue and gold sparkling tiles that help create the effect of a thousand stars leading to the cross. Above the entrance door there is an icon of the “Good Shepherd”. Only a few shepherds could be dressed as richly as Jesus in this icon.
He appears before us in purple and gold (the kind of clothing worn by emperors, not villagers), holding the imperial cross. Obviously, they tried to show the connection between imperial and lordly power. You may be interested in the article 10 false gods of our time.
Wooden doors of Santa Sabina
The Church of Santa Sabina in Rome was completely completed in 432. The building retains its appearance to this day, although it has been stripped of its magnificent mosaics. You might think that mosaic remains unchanged longer than wood, but this wooden door has been bearing the image of the crucified Jesus Christ for many years.
The wood paneling, cut from cedar, still survives and can be seen in the church. The doors show various scenes from the Bible. One of the scenes shows Jesus with long hair and a beard holding a cross. Although this image is standardized, in Russia Jesus is shown without a beard.
Appearance of Christ
But how was Christ depicted before the 5th century, in apostolic times, since the apostles probably remembered exactly what He looked like?
“During the times of the first Christians, who were in times of persecution of the Church, symbolic images prevailed, not claiming realism and authenticity,” says Irina Yazykova, “so that their sacred meaning, understandable to initiates, remained inaccessible to external people located outside the Christian community.”
The symbol of Christ often became the image of a fish. The word ΙΧΘΥΣ (Greek for “fish”) can be read as an abbreviation: Ἰησοὺς Χριστὸς Θε o ὺ῾Υιὸς Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ the Son of God the Savior). The symbol of Christ was also the image of a pelican, since it was believed that in the blood of this bird there is an antidote to snake bites and in the event of a snake attack, it, tearing its chest, feeds the children with its flesh in order to save them, which is an analogy of the Eucharistic Sacrifice of Christ. Later, images of Christ appear in the form of a young man with a lamb on his shoulders, a mosaic with a similar plot “Christ the Good Shepherd”, for example, decorates the mausoleum of Gala Placidia in Rome (5th century).
“It was a hidden sermon of Christians of the first centuries,” explains Irina Yazykova. - But at the Fifth-Sixth Council of Trullo (691-692) they decided to abandon such symbolic images, since they often misled yesterday’s pagans. It was decided to depict Christ openly in the human form in which He was incarnate. True, it turned out that, except for the icons of the 5th century, no, even verbal, descriptions of Christ’s appearance were preserved. The Gospel is silent about this.
There were heated debates around the appearance of Jesus Christ. Some said that the psalms say that He is “more beautiful than the sons of men” (Ps. 44: 3), and they wrote Christ as a beautiful youth, like the Greek gods; while others, on the contrary, wrote Christ as emphatically ugly, referring to the prophecy of Isaiah: “... we saw Him, and there was no appearance in Him that would attract us to Him. He was despised and despised before men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with pain, and we turned our faces away from Him” (Isa. 53: 2-3).
But over the years, a single historical type has developed, created according to the principle of the golden ratio: harmonious proportions of the face with large eyes, a straight thin nose, dark, but not black hair, shoulder-length (as men wore in both Judea and Greece), with a slight beard. Although in different countries this image (art historians call it Greco-Semitic) changes somewhat: for example, the Ethiopians depict Him as dark-skinned, the Chinese as narrow-eyed, and in Rublev’s time in Rus' Christ was given Slavic features - light brown hair, light eyes. However, despite all the differences, Christ in the icon can always be recognized.
Jesus trampling creatures. Archbishop's Chapel in Ravenna
Since the 500s, the Archbishop's Chapel shows us Christ standing on the necks of a lion and a snake. The psalm says: “If you truly love God, you will tread on the lion and the snake, you will trample the dangerous lion and the accursed serpent.”
In this mosaic, Jesus is depicted as a warrior wearing armor and a cloak. Why does the church need a defender? The church was erected during a period of rivalry between different Christian sects. Therefore, she needed protection not only from enemies, but also from disputes within the faith.
Healing a dying woman. Catacombs of Peter and Marcellinus
Rome was built under catacombs, tunnels and labyrinths, so many ancient frescoes have not survived to this day. An image of a dying woman was found in the catacombs.
The icon tells of a woman who bled for 12 years. She believed that simply by touching Jesus' cloak she would be cured. And this happened, but not because she touched the sacred robe, but because of her faith in God.
Mannerism style
It is worth briefly talking about the style in which all three paintings were painted. Mannerism is translated as “mannerly.” A distinctive feature is distorted people and faces. This style is characterized by unrealistic figures, mannered images and religious motifs. Episodes of paintings overloaded with details, lack of clear forms, crumpled style and storyline. But at the same time, the brightness of the images, immersion in detail and pretentiousness of the depicted objects.
Bosch painted Carrying the Cross in this style and was the first of his kind to use this artistic expression for such a subtle biblical interpretation.
Curing a paralytic. Syria
One of the most popular stories is the story of God’s healing of a paralyzed man. The sick man's friends were so desperate with grief that they broke the roof of the house where Jesus lived and brought the paralytic to his bed. Seeing this, Christ said: “Get up, take your bed and go to your home.”
After this, the healed man actually got out of bed and left, taking the bed with him. This painting was found on a wall in a church around 230 BC in Syria, so the image is read from right to left rather than left to right.
Woman with baby. Catacombs of Priscilla
When archaeologists excavated the catacombs of Priscilla, they found a very valuable image of a woman with a baby. Many paintings show women. But hidden in a corner of the catacombs, the image of the Virgin and Child may be the oldest in the world.
There was a lot of controversy about this find: are these really Jesus and Mary? If so, then the image was made before their codifications appeared.
Art of the Netherlands 15th-16th centuries
In the history of art of the 15th-16th centuries. in Holland they call it the Northern Renaissance. This period can be dated to the European Renaissance, but with a northern accent. The Gothic style still ruled in art, only with strong religious overtones. Bosch's work touches on the later period of the Renaissance, but also follows its main canons.
Hieronymus Bosch painted the painting “Carrying the Cross” according to all the rules of the Gothic style of that era, putting into its creation the horror of the cruelty of his time and the gloom of the surrounding reality.
Good Shepherd. Saint Callisto, Rome
The Church of Father Tertullian describes how the people of Rome blamed Christians for all the problems. They thought Christians were to blame for epidemics and illnesses. Therefore, Christians were forced to hide from the Romans in places such as catacombs and churches.
On the walls of the church, people see frescoes depicting Jesus as the good shepherd carrying water and a lamb on his shoulder. This fresco shows his concern for innocent Christians.
Description of the picture
Bosch painted three paintings "Carrying the Cross", but they are all dedicated to one episode of biblical history. The path of Christ to Golgotha was difficult not only physically, but above all emotionally. The people around him were divided into two camps - those who gloated and those who sincerely sympathized with their teacher.
The description of the painting “Carrying the Cross” should begin with the image of these people, whose images, completely disgusting, are mixed with unimaginably beautiful and sad ones. The faces of the characters in the picture are more caricatured than realistic, they seem to have risen from hell and in their mocking expressions they resemble devils more than people.
In all the paintings, Jesus Christ is in the center. He bent under the weight of the cross, and he also felt heavy under the weight of the anger directed at him from the people around him.
Read more about the paintings “Carrying the Cross” and description below.
Mosaic in St. Mary's Church
The mosaic came from Great Britain and belonged to a famous family from the Roman province. It is composed of Christian and pagan images during the hunt. In the center is a man without a beard, surrounded by two grenades.
Since there are no symbols behind him, one might think that he is Jesus. Behind his head are written 2 Greek letters and rho (the first letter of the name of Christ in Greek and the general symbol of the Lord).
Photos of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
Cathedral of Christ the Savior: Photo Map
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This collection contains 137 good quality photographs of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which were taken by tourists, local residents and photographers. On our website you can also find photos of other attractions of Moscow and Russia; for this you need to go to the appropriate section on the object’s page. In addition to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, our visitors often look for photos of the Archangel Cathedral, Central Department Store, Paleontological Museum, Novospassky Monastery and Sokolniki Park.
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See also: Photos of Gardens by the Bay, Cities of Latvia, Brazil, Velikie Luki, Puerto Aventuras, Vinogradovo Estate, Lalibela
Crucifix on a tablet made of ivory
The British Museum contains the earliest depiction of the death of Jesus Christ. A carved ivory tablet shows his torment. Christ is nailed to the cross, with the words “King of the Jews” written above his head.
On one side stand Saints Mary and John, on the other Longinus pierces Jesus with a spear. The body of the dead Judas hangs on a tree, and under his feet lies a bag of coins that he earned by betraying the Lord.
Basic rules for depicting Jesus Christ on icons
In Orthodox icon painting, certain canonical rules for the depiction of Christ have developed; All Orthodox icons of the Lord Jesus Christ can be classified into certain types:
- Savior Not Made by Hands (Mandylion)
According to legend, the king of Edessa, who fell ill with leprosy, sent a messenger to Jesus with a request to come and heal him, and if Jesus did not agree, then at least receive his painted face. Jesus was constantly surrounded by a crowd, and the artist had no opportunity to draw him.
Seeing this, the Savior, having washed his face, wiped it with an ubrus (handkerchief), and His face appeared on the cloth. This image miraculously healed the king of Edessa and subsequently became the basis for a whole iconographic trend in the image of the Savior in icons, called the “Savior Not Made by Hands,” when the icon depicts only the head of Jesus against the background of a plate.
- Savior Almighty (Pantocrator)
The most common type of icon of Christ is the Savior Pantocrator (Pantocrator), on which He holds the Gospel in his left hand and performs a blessing with his right.
The main iconographic variants of the image of the Savior Almighty include his image from the waist up or in full height, sitting on a throne (such as the icon of the Savior by Andrei Rublev “The Savior is in Power”).
- Spas Emmanuel
Emmanuel translated from Hebrew means “God with us.” This name is assigned to all images on icons of Jesus, where He appears as a youth. Most often, the image of Emmanuel is present on icons of the Mother of God.
- Deesis
The Deesis represents icons of Jesus Christ with angels, saints, the Mother of God, etc. The Savior Himself is always in the center, most often He appears in the form of a Pantocrator sitting on a throne, with the Mother of God and John the Baptist on the sides. Russian icon painting has developed its own type of Deesis, called the Angelic: this is an icon of Jesus Emmanuel with the archangels Michael and Gabriel standing nearby.
Alexamenos Graffiti
This graffiti perhaps shows human nature as well as the very first idea of Jesus. Found on plaster in 200 BC, the image tells of a man gazing at a crucified man. If you look closely, you can see that the corpse actually has the head of a donkey, and underneath it is scrawled in Greek: “Alexamenos worships God.”
An interesting fact is that crucifixion used to be used on lower people under the law. The donkey's head only enhanced the effect when viewing.
