Michael Goltz Icons

In its role as a teacher and communicator the icon has 2 separate but related functions. The first way in which it functions is to proclaim to the world that no matter what race, ethnicity or gender you are there have probably been people from your background who have been recognized by the church as saints. Icons of pre-schism western saints are very popular right now and that is a good thing. These icons proclaim the fact that one does not need to be Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Serb or Middle Eastern to be a saint. Yes, there are Orthodox saints who are Irish, French, German, English, Native American, African and Chinese! By having icons of western saints in our temples we are proclaiming to possible inquirers into Orthodoxy that they are welcome and can feel at home in our presence.

Icons are useful in making inquirers and converts who are not of Middle Eastern or Eastern European heritage feel welcome in Orthodox Churches.  Seeing icons of Western saints who are of the same ethnicity, culture, race or nationality as themself helps an inquirer feel more at home in a Church where the primary attendance might be of a foriegn ethnic group.  Further, having icons of 20th Century American saints helps this same cause because these icons proclaim that saints were not just people who lived long ago and in a far off land but who lived in 20th Century America and yet still found a way to live a life worthy of Christ. 

There are numerous places in the New Testament where scripture clearly states that no one has seen the Father but Christ.  The following are a few of those texts:

John 1:18: No one has ever seen God; only the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.

John 12:45: And he who see me (Christ) sees him who sent me.

John 14:8-10: Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfield."  Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know me, Philip?  He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, "Show us the Father."  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?..."

1 Timothy 1:17: To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Colossians 1:15: He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation...

The New Testament makes it clear that God the Father is invisible.  In my next post on this subject I will show that the Old Testament makes it clear that icons may only be written of what we have seen.  Christ was made flesh at the Incarnation and thus his image is able to be written in iconography.  God the Father is uncircumscribed and thus his image may not be written in icons. 

The question has been asked: are icons of God the Father canonical? 

This is a very deep subject and I will probably spend many posts in this FAQ dealing with it, but here are some of my opening thoughts on the matter:

1. The canons of Iconography clearly define the fact that God the Father is not depictable in iconography.
2. The Church has made it clear over the past 2000 years only Christ has seen God.
3. Because we have seen Christ we can have icons of him. The Incarnation enabled man to depict Christ.
4. Because God the Father has not been seen by man, he is not depictable.  Man is cirumscribable, God the Father is not. 

A comment was made by a reader of this site thanking me for the English inscription on the icons which I have written.  While the comment was not posed in question form I took it as an excellent opportunity to discuss the need for the vernacular in iconography.  With the eception of icons of Christ and the Theotokos most of the icons you will find on this site are inscribed in English, as they should be.  Orthodox Christianity is a religion that has traditionally been taught and practiced in the language of the people it is being presented to.  At Pentecost the Apostles spoke in tongues to people from all over the world in their own language.  When Orthodoxy was presented to the Slavic people it was again presented to them in their own language and when St. Innocent brought Orthodoxy to America he translated the Gospel into the language of the Alaskan people.  Thus in the same way when icons are being written for English speaking people it only makes sense their icons be inscribed in English.  What good does it do for someone to have a beautifully written icon of a saint but the person praying before the icon does not know who the saint is because he/she can't read Greek or Russian?  The exceptions to this rule are of course Christ and the Theotokos.  Christ is inscribed with IC XC which is the monogram of his name in Greek and with HON in his halo which means "ever existing."  The Theotokos likewise is inscribed in Greek as well.  The only other exceptions you will find on this site are for icons in which the person requesting the icon personally requested the icon be inscribed in that language. 

"Do the colors in icons consistently mean anything?"

Many people think the colors of the icon have some deep theological meaning to them, and that they must be set in stone. This may or may not be the case, depending on which iconographer you speak to. There are definite psychological meanings which colors have, and there are certain colors which are generally used to depict certain ideas in icons. However, iconography while being a sacred art, is still art. The fathers of the Church were traditionalists, however, they were not stagnant traditionalists. Iconographers in the past have painted certain icons in certain colors because it was theologically correct to do so as well as visually appealing. The iconographers job is to depict an icon which is both theologically correct and in good artistic taste and visually pleasing, and the necessity of good artistic taste often has a role to play in what colors are used in the icon. I once wrote an icon of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus which is an icon of seven young soldiers sleeping next to each other in a cave. In painting this icon it was necessary to plan out the colors of the robes of the soldiers in order to make sure there was artistic harmony and balance to the icon. It would have been visually unpleasing to have two of the soldiers in one corner of the icon wearing red and to have no red anywhere else on the soldiers robes. This artistic harmony, for lack of a better phrase, is as important to the icon as the theological orthodoxy of the icon. A visually unpleasing icon can be as disturbing as a theologically incorrect one because it draws attention to what should not be important, namely the skills of the iconographer, and draws attention away from what is most important, namely the message which the icon is there to convey.

     Having said this about icon colors and artistic harmony let us now discuss the meanings commonly associated to colors. Gold is used to depict divinity as it is a rare and precious metal, when light strikes gold it gives a radiance which most closely reflects uncreated light. Gold leaf, or a golden color of paint is used for the halo. White, like gold, is used to depict uncreated light, as well as physical and spiritual purity. Christ’s robes at the transfiguration and from the resurrection on are painted white, or sometimes gold. The color blue is used to depict transcendence, truth and humility. A famous icon of St. Ignatius of Antioch depicts the saint wearing a deep blue robe with a blue background. The color serves to remind us of the great spiritual truths which St. Ignatius taught us. Red is the color of blood, martyrdom, youth and beauty, but also the color of sin and war. Martyrs are often depicted wearing red, or as the case with the famous Russian icon of St. George with a deep red background. In one icon the Prophet Elijah is depicted wearing a red robe with a red background because he was taken up to Heaven in a chariot of fire. Christ’s outer garments are blue and his under garments are red to symbolize that he is divine while being filled with humanity. The Theotokos’ outer garments are red, or a deep earthen tone, while her under garments are blue to symbolize that she is human while filled with divinity. Green is the color of the plant world and thus is used to denote spring time and revival. The first icon which I painted was the Angel Gabriel, who is depicted with a green robe, as he was the bearer of the message of the incarnation to Mary. The meaning of the color brown in icons can only be attained in connection with the rest of the icon. The rocks and buildings themselves have no meaning, but only have meaning in the larger context of the icon. Finally, black is the color of death, and the renunciation of earthly values. In the icon of the Last Judgement the damned are painted black as they have lost all hope of salvation. On the icon of the Cross, the cave under the cross is black which denotes death and despair, as are the caves on icons such as those of St. George and the Prophet Elijah. Monks are depicted wearing black robes as the black symbolizes the monk’s renunciation of all that is vain.

"I was told that a saint holding a cross is a martyr.  Can you explain this?"

Yes a saint holding a cross is a martyr.  Martyrs are very easy to pick out in icons because they are depicted either holding a cross, the crown of martyrdom, the instrument of their salvation/martyrdom, or with a red background.  In icons of non-martyred saints the saint is often depicted holding something which was instrumental in the saints salvation as well.  There is a very famous icon of St. George on a horse doing battle with the devil.  In this icon St. George has a bright red background which is the symbol of his martyrdom.  In an icon of St. Lawrence which I wrote St. Lawrence is depicted holding the gate upon which he was martyred.  In the same way bishops are usually easy to pick out in icons because they are depicted holding the gospel book.  The style of a bishops clothing may change depending on what era they are from and their rank as a bishop but they are always shown with the gospel in their hands.  Likewise iconographers are often depicted holding an icon or a paintbrush, and physicians are often depicted  holding a medicine box.  However, sometimes when a saint belongs to multiple ranks of sainthood not all of those ranks show up visually in the icon.  There is an icon of St. Tikhon Patriarch of Moscow which focuses on the fact that he was Patriarch and not on the fact he was a martyr as well.  The title of the icon does not always refer to each rank of stainthood as well.  Icons of St. Luke usually just mention the fact he was an evangelist and don't refer to the face he was also a physician or an iconographer.  These are just general guidelines to help with the understanding of icons and not hard fast rules. 

The purpose of this ICON FAQ is to answer the most frequently asked questions about iconography.  I have collected a number of good questions to start this FAQ from a webforum I often post on but if there is a question you would like to see answered on here feel free to submit it through the contact me page.  I hope this FAQ is informative and fun for the reader and gives the reader a deeper insight into what iconographers do.