Tuesday, June 25, 2013

The Iconostasis


An icon screen, or iconostasis, is a complex assembly of many smaller icons. It forms the front of an Orthodox church. It usually has all the feast scenes on one of its rows.  For more detail on the purpose of an icon screen, you can read this short article.

Here is the icon screen in St John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Washington, DC.


I have a folding (or traveling) icon screen. It is about 2 feet high and 5 feet wide. On this screen the feasts are on the second row up from the bottom.


Here are some detail shots of the panels on either side of the center:

Going from left to right we see Mary's birth, her presentation in the temple, the annunciation, the nativity of Jesus, his presentation, his baptism (also called the epiphany or appearance of God), and his entering into Jerusalem.


Continuing on the right side of the screen, we see:

The Ascension of Christ, the Old Testament Trinity, the Transfiguration, the Dormition (falling asleep) of Mary, the Death of John the Baptist, the Exaltation of the Cross and a scene I'll have to research further.


On the center panel of the icon screen we find:

At the top, crowned John and Mary are showing adoration to Christ while holding up prophecies about him. Below on the left is a Resurrection / Descent icon showing Christ breaking down the gates of Hades, and on the right is the Crucifixion. Below those is the Last Supper, then Annunciation, and finally at the bottom, the Four Evangelists.


There are two scenes of the Annunciation on this traveling iconostasis. Was it intentional, or an accident? I don't know.



The other images shown in the rows of this iconostasis include angels, cherubim and seraphim; Saints, Prophets and Apostles.