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Final Icon Analysis

1. Chosen Icon: Dormition of the Theotokos, or “Успение”, one of the 12 feast days, or

“dodekaorton”, which depicts the passing of the Theotokos and her ascension to heaven.

Also known as the Assumption, or “успение”.

2. The location of this icon is on the south side of the church, on the wall, which is in

contrast with the traditional location, on the western wall, which is the exit of the church.

The traditional placement of this icon is meant to remind the faithful that in exiting the

sanctuary, we should be thinking of our exit from this world and entrance into the

Kingdom of God.

3. In this rendition of the Dormition, Mary stands out as the focus of the icon, with a dark

himation and chiton, indicating that she has passed on from this world. Above her, Jesus

Christ is seen holding His mother’s soul in the form of a child, and she is clothed in all

white, symbolizing the purity of her soul, offering a sharp contrast to her body below. He

is clothed all in gold, his himation, chiton, and clavus, depicted in all His divine glory. He

is flanked by two angels and surrounded by a large mandorla. The two angels have their

hands on the shoulders of two of the mourning apostles, as if to reassure them that this is

a joyous occasion. Jesus has the usual tetragrammaton within a cruciform nimbus. There

is a third angel holding a cloth as if to take up Mary’s soul to Heaven. St. Peter can be

seen to the left of Mary holding a censer, as if to cense the body of the Theotokos. St.

Paul is on the right, bowing down in reverence to Mary. St. John is seen bowing low over

Mary, expressing his grief. The rest of the apostles are seen mourning on either side of

Peter and Paul. On the left side of the icon, two bishops are seen each holding gospels,

with stoles draped over their shoulders. The bishops traditionally represented are James,
the brother of the Lord, Timothy, Heirotheus, and Dionysius the Areopagite, who first

recorded the story of the Dormition in the 2nd century AD. There is a building in the

background on the left side of the icon behind the Bishops, symbolizing Jerusalem. This

feast day is not mentioned in scripture but is based on Tradition. The scripture holds that

Mary was with the apostles on the day of the Pentecost (Acts 1:14), and Tradition states

that afterwards she remained in John the Beloved’s home until her repose. The Icon is

surrounded on the top and bottom by an anthemion.

4. In the foreground, Mary is seen lying down, her hands together. Peter and Paul are on

opposite sides, Peter making a gesture of grief with his hand on his face, and Paul

stooping in reverence at the foot of Mary’s bed. In the midground, the other apostles are

seen grieving, with one making a gesture of reverence towards the body. Another apostle,

the one dearest to Mary, St. John, is seen bent over Her in grief. In the background, the

two Bishops are seen observing the event, with two angels flanking the Lord Jesus Christ

and consoling the apostles, and a third angel coming down as if from Heaven as if to

receive the soul of the Theotokos, which is in the form of a baby in Christ’s arms. Peter

and Paul especially have a strange anatomy, with very small heads and large, rounded

feet. The rest of the apostles, Jesus, and Mary, all have mostly proportional bodies,

although Mary’s body seems to stretch on past Paul. All of the faces in the icon are

shown to either have expressions of grief or joy; while they know Mary is not with them

anymore, the prospect of where she is now is a joyful one.

5. Byzantine Iconography has survived this long, for 2,000 years, because of Tradition. This

Tradition is what has ultimately kept the Orthodox Church alive for so long, whereas

other faiths have died out. Thus iconography, albeit with slight deviations, has remained
the same. The incessant focus on Tradition has kept icons in Orthodox Churches much

the same as they were hundreds of years ago, preserving the faith and original teachings

from early Christianity. Ouspensky explains perfectly the importance of Tradition in

relation to the Scripture, thus justifying the power of Tradition in the Orthodox Church.

“…having separated Scripture and Tradition instead of distinguishing them, the latter is

projected on to the written or oral testimonies which are added to the Holy Scripture,

accompanying or following it.” (Ouspensky 12) Tradition complements and completes

the Holy Scriptures. The icons of St. Nicholas are no exception, and although the tone of

colors in the icons isn’t as somber as is traditionally Byzantine, the icons create the sense

of mystical hypostasis that they are meant to. This interpretation of the Dormition is very

good at portraying the deeper, hypostatic meaning behind the event. Jesus is seen holding

the baby soul of Mary, or eidolon, which is a very interesting contrast to what we usually

see; Mary holding the baby Jesus. This is to say that when we die, Jesus will receive us

into his arms as if we were his own children, and carry us to His Heavenly kingdom

Himself.

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