June 24, 2007 Worshipfully

Here is the finished icon. The final addition is the Spirit, depicted as a dove. The dove has a halo around its head and is set within a star of regeneration. This star, which I used for Easter, is an eight-pointed star, made of two squares. Again, it is interesting to note that the Star of Bethlehem is also an eight-pointed star.

June 17, 2007 God the Father

This week adds God the Father to the Holy Trinity. As with Christ, God the Father's right hand is blessing all and holds a scroll in his left hand. Behind the Father's head is a triangle, signifying the Trinity. Each of these classic icons are very similar as far as the shape of the figure goes. The heads of both figures are quite small while the shoulders are broad. This form begins the Byzantine period and does not change in hopes of keeping a familiarity among the figures seen in icons. No matter when the icon was put together, the people could always tell who was Christ, who was God the Father, who was the Spirit, and even onto the Virgin Mary and the saints. Often the people could not read, but they knew the symbols that belonged to each figure.

June 10, 2007 Christ

In preparation for our Worshipfully event, I started a triptych, a set of three icons, of the Holy Trinity. This week started off with Christ, holding his right hand in blessing toward all, and a Bible in his left hand. Behind Christ's head is a cross. As Baptists, we tend to misunderstand the role of icons in our worship, confusing them with idols. However, these icons were used as devotional items, meant to focus attention on things higher than ourselves.