Header image is a detail from one of the earliest crucifixion icons extant, dated to the 8th Century. This icon is in the St. Catherine’s Monastery Collection in Sinai, Egypt. Note the body of Christ is clothed regally, in a colobium, and that he is portrayed as alive, not dead. Tempra on panels.
J. Richard Strake, Emeritus Professor of English at Augusta State University, writes,
Pathos is not the goal in these early images. Rather, one is led to consider the Crucifixion’s relation to Christian truth and Christian liturgy. Christ is depicted in a colobium, either out of reverence or quite possibly to suggest his simultaneous role as priest and victim in the sacrifice of the Cross. (The thieves always wear the simple perizoma or loincloth.) His arms are almost always at right angles to his trunk, as if in a liturgical gesture. In one example from the eighth century [below], blood flows from his side but without any indication that this is painful or other than appropriate.
Crucifixion Icon, 8th Century, St. Catherine's Monastery, Egypt
0 Responses to “Crucifixion Icon”