Festival Icons of the Orthodox Tradition: 3
Icons of the Resurrection of Christ
And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him ... And entering into the sepulchre they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed in a long, white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them: "Be not affrighted..."  Mark 16:1, 5
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When we were placed with our fathers in the depths of Hell, in the blackness of darkness, of a sudden there appeared  the color of the sun like gold, and a substantial purple-colored light enlightening the place... The mighty Lord appeared in the form of a man and enlightened those places which had ever before been in darkness, and broke asunder the fetters which before could not be broken ... Then Jesus stretched forth His hand and said, "Come to me all ye my saints, who were created in My image and the Lord Jesus laid hold of Adam's hand and said, "Peace be to thee and all thy righteous posterity, which is mine."  Gospel of Nicodemus, cc. 13-19 passim
There is no icon of the act of the Resurrection
itself. The oldest depiction is that of the women
who meet with the angel at the empty tomb, perhaps
as old as Dura Europos. Of the various Gospel accounts 
of the encounter with the heavenly messenger, the 
canonical icon relfects most cloely that of Mark. The 
Anastasis icon stems (probably) from the apochryphal 
Gospel of Nicodemus, and signifies the new freedom 
and life that Christ's death brought to the just of the Old 
Testament and to all who follow Him. The gates of Hades
lay shattered, while Adam and Eve reach out for their 
deliverance. The image probably has its formal archetype
in imperial images of a gracious emperor reaching out to 
liberate people: God has reestablished His relationship 
with His faithful.

 
 

14th century Greek Resurrection icon
 
 

Mid-16th century, Ukrainian (Lviv) Anastasis

 
 
 

16th century Russian icon
 

19th century Russian icon of the Passion and Anastasis
Ascension of Christ: 40 days after Easter
And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they stared steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing...?" Acts 1: 9-11
Originally the feast was celebrated at Antioch at the same time as
Pentecost, from the 4th century. One of the earliest versions 
of the image is in the Rabbula Gospels (586). Mary stands in 
the center in an orant position, signifying the Church, surrounded 
by the apostles including St. Paul, while Christ rises in a mandorla 
flanked by angels. She alone makes eye contact with us, the
Church. The depiction here is clearly not historical, but highly 
symbolic of the nature of the Church Christ established and left,
and His promise to send the Spirit and never to abandon His 
Church.

 
 

St. Catherine's Sinai, 7th century encaustic panel 
 
 

St. Catherine's, Sinai, 9th century tempera icon
 
 

Russian, 16th century icon
 
Mid-Pentecost and Pentecost: 50 days after Easter
... they found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished...  Luke 2:46-47
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... they were all in one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each ofthem. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:1-4
The Mid-Pentecost icon consists of the child Jesus 
lecturing to the Jewish elders in the Temple at the 
time of Passover in His twelfth year. The linkage of 
Christ's inspired teaching, even as a child, reflects the
inspiration of the Spirit at Pentecost. In the "Descent of 
the Holy Spirit" icon, the Apostles sit as they did at the Last
Supper, sometimes with Mary (the Church) at their center.
Paul always appears, to stress the divinely inspired nature
of his own mission and teaching. Sometimes called the birthday
of the Church (by Catholics and Orthodox alike), Pentecost 
both seals Christ's promise, and establishes the teaching authority
of the bishops of the Church, who are the progeny of the Apostles,
all of whom are equal around the table. At the bottom is the figure
of Cosmos, standing before the dark world (recall the Nativity) 
with the twelve scrolls from which the Apostles will teach. Early 
versions, such as that in the Rabbula Gospels (Syria, 586) are very
similar to depictions of the Ascension, with Mary at center.

 
 

Meso-Pentecost, Moscow, 15th century
 
 

20th century, Mesnil Monastic center, France
 
 

Theophanis the Cretan, 1546, Mount Athos

 
 

Russian, late 15th century
 
 

Mid-15th century, Tver, Russia
Dormition of Mary (Koimesis): August 15
This feast, which corresponds to the Assumption in
the Western Church, is rooted in accounts in apocryphal
texts dating from between the 3rd and 5th centuries. Its 
celebration may have begun in Ephesus as early as the 
3rd century, and became common in the East only in the 
7th century. A very early date for the doctrine may be 
assumed by the lack of any tradition of first-class relics,
aside from milk. Her form here echoes that in the Nativity, 
and Christ's holding of her soul reflects countless Virgin and
Child compositions: though here the Son carries his mother. 
Apostles and bishops* surround her bier, in various states 
of mourning, as children who have lost their mother. The line between 
Mary dying and merely "falling asleep" is very thin, and one 
apocryphal work claims she was buried at Gethsemane. Mary may
also appear in a mandorla at the top of the composition: a sign 
of each Christian's theosis. In some ways, one may view this as a 
personalization of the Anastasis. Iconography developed a little later than 
the liturgy, in the 9th and 10th centuries.
* Paul, Timothy, Dionysius

 
 

Kastoria, Greece, 13th century
 
 

Kastoria, Greece, c. 1400
 
 

Master Olexiyeh, Lviv, (Ukrainian), 1547

 

Balamand Monstery, Russia, 18th century
 
 
 

Detail of icon at left
 
 

Macedonia, 16th century

 
 

Sinai, crusader artist in Orthodox manner, later 13th century
 
 
 

Russian, 16th century
 
 
 

Tver, Russian, 15th century
The Trinity
And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and lo three men stood by him ... And he took butter, and milk, and the calf he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them and they did eat... Gen 18:1-2, 8
This dogmatic icon is an attempt to pictorialize a
fundamental truth of Christianity: that God is singular,
yet comprised of three persons (stases). Christ as young
man and Holy Spirit as dove are scriptural, but depicting 
the Father as old man, as in the West, is generally anathema,
as He has never taken human form. Two attempts are shown
below. The most satisfying is an interpretation of the scene in 
Genesis 18, in which Abraham entertains "the Lord" in the form
of three men (usually depicted as angels). This image dates from 
at least the 5th century. The greatest of these is arguably by
Andrej Rublev (1422), a Russian monk and student of Theophanes 
the Greek. The sublimity, balance and unspoken sense of relationship
led the Russian church to declare it a "proto-revealed image" (1551). 
Our own theosis is allowed for by the opening at front and center, and 
the use of reverse perspective that pulls us in to a communion with the
Trinity. Generally the three are accepted to be, from right to left, 
Father, Son and Spirit. Many copies are to be found.

 
 

Novogorod, Russia, 14th century
 
 

Crete, 15th century
 
 

Russia, 18th century

Athens, late 14th century
 
 

Andrej Rublev, Moscow, 1422
 
 

Master Paisii, Tver, Russia, 1484
Triumph of Orthodoxy: First Sunday of Lent
This icon and the feast it embodies celebrates
the defeat of iconoclasm and the return of ortho-
doxy in the year 843. Recently widowed Empress 
Theodora and son Michael III, along with Patriarch
Methodios and other clerics flank an icon of the 
Virgin Hodegetria while other monks and clergy fill
in behind or in the lower register. This is the only festal 
icon that depicts an historical event beyond the first century. 
The festival included a procession, and dates from at least
the later 9th century.

 
 

Constan- tinople, c. 1400
 
 

Ananias, 1722
 
 
 

20th century
 
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