About the “Pantokrator” Icon and the Artist
This icon, painted in a traditional Byzantine method, is titled “Pantokrator” which means the “ruler of all.” The earliest depiction of this icon is from the sixth century and is found at the ancient Orthodox Monastery of Saint Katherine’s at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt.
The lettering at the top left and right of the icon “ΙC ΧC” is the Greek abbreviation for Jesus Christ. The face of Christ is encircled by a halo with three Greek letters “Ο Ω Ν” which is derived from the biblical name of God, “He Who Is” (Exodus 3:14). So it is that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God Who became human for our salvation. The two natures of Christ, divine and human, are further developed in the icon in a somewhat subtle way. The hair of Christ is divided in two at the top of the head yet braided into one just above the left shoulder. The first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) proclaimed that the Lord is one person with two natures, fully God and fully human, without confusion. The icon proclaims the theology of the Church, not with the written or spoken word, but with images and color.
The two garments, inner and outer, also express the natures of Christ. His inner garment conveys His divinity which was before all time. We read in the Gospel of John, “Truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). The Lord took on the outer purple garment, symbolizing His humanity, without however losing His divine nature. His flesh was woven in the womb of the “Theotokos,” the Mother of God, as the Law and the Prophets foretold (Isaiah 7:14).
The right hand of Christ is held in a blessing gesture. The configuration of His fingers carefully spell the Greek abbreviation for “ΙC ΧC,” Jesus Christ. Adjacent to the blessing hand are the Holy Scriptures adorned with the image of the Holy Cross, the symbol of Christ’s accomplishment for our salvation. The hand of the Word of God, that inscribed the Law on the tablets, blesses and fulfills what was prefigured in Scripture when He said on the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
The icon is not to be beheld in parts, but as a whole. Iconography is a liturgical art that is meant to bring the faithful into a spiritual encounter with the person or persons depicted through prayer. In this icon we see, at a closer look, that the face of Christ is slightly off-center. This subtle nuance is not accidental, but rather creates movement as opposed to a static glance. In the same way, the Lord is not static but dynamically present in the life of the believer. His ear is turned towards our prayer.
The aspect of “light” is also important to note. The Lord is surrounded by light as depicted by the use of the traditional gold leaf background. Looking at the face and garments of Christ we notice that there is not one particular light source, as in Renaissance art, because the light is emanating from the Lord Himself, the light of the world (cf. John 8:12). The use of light and the overall treatment of the persons depicted in iconography differ from the Greco-Roman art of its time. Icons are not interested in the beauty of an earthly humanity but rather in the assumed, transformed, and glorified humanity of Christ. Thus, the icon described above is depicting Christ risen and glorified, of Whom the Holy angels spoke of to the Apostles at the Ascension when they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
At the lower right of the icon is the only line of script, which reads: “Διά χειρός Γεωργία Κ. Φιλιππάκη του Κρητός 2016.” This translates as “By the hand of George K. Filippakis of Crete 2016” and indicates that the artist is the master iconographer George Filippakis of New York, one of the finest and most prolific iconographers working today. Over the course of his more than fifty-year career, he has painted iconography for more than sixty churches, most in the United States. Born on the Island of Crete, Filippakis first studied iconography at the age of eleven as an apprentice to master iconographer, Stylianos Kartakis. He later studied at the Athens School of Fine Arts, and his work has been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Fr. Aristidis Garinis
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine Church
Flushing, New York