Pantocrator is a compound word formed from the Greek word
for "all" and the noun for "strength". The
icon depicts Christ fully frontal with a somewhat melancholy
and stern aspect, with the right hand raised in blessing or,
in the conventional rhetorical gesture that represents teaching.
The left hand holds an open bible. The icon portrays Christ as
the Righteous Judge and the Lover of Mankind, both at the same
time. The Gospel is the book by which we are judged, and the
blessing proclaims God's loving kindness toward us, showing us
that he is giving us his forgiveness.
Although ruler of all, Christ is not pictured with a crown
or scepter as other kings of this world. The large open eyes
look directly into the soul of the viewer. The high curved forehead
shows wisdom. The long slender nose is a look of nobility, the
small closed mouth, the silence of contemplation.
The oldest known Pantocrator icon was written in the sixth
century. It was preserved in the monastery of St. Catherine in
the Sinai desert. This remote location enabled the image to survive
the iconoclastic era in Byzantine history (726-815) when most
icons were destroyed.
|