Icon "Transfiguration of the Lord": description of the plot and images

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The icon "The Transfiguration of the Lord" is a sign of the event, which is described in the Gospel. What is the meaning of this icon and what are the varieties of its writing, this article will tell.

The Icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord: plot

This image depicts the gospel event that happened to Jesus Christ and his disciples: John, Peter and James. Six days before it, the Savior had a conversation with his apostles. He told them that soon He would be killed, but three days after His death He would rise again. Noticing that some of his disciples were upset because of these words, Christ decided to show them all his greatness and divinity. The Son of God invited the apostles to climb Mount Tabor for prayer. During the prayer, a miracle happened, namely, Christ's transfiguration. The face of the Savior shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. At this event, the appearance of the Old Testament prophets Moses and Elijah took place, who spoke with Jesus about his outcome. Subsequently, all three were overshadowed by a bright cloud, from which the Voice of God was heard, which announced that Christ is the Son of the Lord. Saviorasked his apostles not to tell anyone about this event until his miraculous Resurrection.

The Icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord: image

Currently there are many variations of this look. Let's consider some of them. So, to this day, an image created in the 15th century, which, according to some sources, was written by Theophanes the Greek, has been preserved. He depicted the Transfiguration of the Lord dynamically and movably. A characteristic feature of this icon is the image of the apostles, blinded by the Divine radiance, in rather sharp foreshortenings. Moreover, the icon depicts not only the Transfiguration of the Lord itself, but also the events preceding it. So, on the left side of the image, Jesus Christ is shown leading his disciples to Mount Tabor. The transfigured body of the Savior is in the center of the icon. You can also note the symbolic division of the image into two parts: the upper (heavenly) and the lower (earthly). The icon on the right shows the final event - the departure from the mountain of Jesus and the apostles. That is, three plots that make up the Transfiguration of the Lord found their place on one image.

An important place in the icon is its color scheme, which only enhances the contrast between the earth and the sky. The author of the second most famous image of the image of the Transfiguration of the Lord is Andrei Rublev, a Russian icon painter. His way of displaying this gospel event is not dynamic, like the previous one, but static. Here only the main event takes place - the Transfiguration itself. This icon was also painted in XVcentury.

The Icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord: meaning

It is very difficult and even impossible to overestimate the significance of this image. After all, the icon reflects the events that formed the basis of one of the twelfth, most important Christian holidays, which is celebrated annually on August 19. The images themselves, created by Feofan the Greek and Andrei Rublev, are now valuable relics not only of Christians, but of the entire population of the Earth.