Christ Pantocrator
circa 600AD
On loan from Saint Catherine’s Monastery
This is the earliest version of an image of Jesus Christ in history. Christ the Panoctrator is typically a half-length image, where Christ holds the New Testament in his left hand and makes the gesture of teaching or of blessing with his right. And so he is represented as half man and half God.
Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt has been home to this painting since 700AD., which was lucky because had it been in Constantinople, the home of the Byzantine World, it would have been destroyed during a period of Byszantine Iconoclasm. Instead during this time, Saint Catherine’s was protected the Muslims reigning over the fertile crescent.
I went ahead and painted my own version using gouache The halo is collaged in there. Even though I have requested a loan of this painting, I don’t think they will send it to me. Time to pray for a miracle.
In any case it was fun to try and render.
Izzy 2018
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