Christ Pantocrator
Acrylic Paint on Ceramic Tile
9" x 18" x .75"

Little over a year ago I shared a couple of similar icons (see them here and here) that were done while visiting my family-in-law who happened to have these antique roof tiles. Now that we are back with a visit again I was happy to "borrow" another tile, or two, for artistic purposes. Subject matter for this tile was Christ Pantocrator, image based on an icon from St. Catherine monastery in Sinai.

An interesting note can be made about this well-known icon of Christ Pantocrator from St. Catherine monastery in Sinai. The icon is manifestation of prominent changes that took place in early iconography.

Before the middle of the sixth century, Jesus was often portrayed in settings in which he was shown as a young shepherd or a version of a Greek god. But this icon from about A.D.550 shows the new movement in illustrating Jesus in full-frontal portrait style with many facial features that we still see in iconography today.

A single event that brought all these changes was A.D. 544 discovery in the city of Edessa of a cloth with an image believed to be of Jesus. At about this time a significant change began to take place in the way Jesus was portrayed on coins, icons, frescos and mosaics. Many features seen on the Shroud can also be seen in this Sinai icon with similarities that are too astounding to be coincidental.