Comparison Of Byzantine Iconography And St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

In the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church the icon of The Nativity of Christ is located in the center of the North wall on the first story of icons.

It is clear that modern day iconography appears to look nothing like Byzantine Iconography. These differences are more than just the colors used and the different facial structures. The icon of The Nativity of Christ differs significantly from how it is depicted in Byzantine Iconography and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. This change in depiction, although drastic, does not make the icon in the church fail at its purpose of being an icon.

The most noticeable discrepancy between the icon in the church and the Byzantine rendition is how Mary is clothed. In the church, she is written wearing

a light blue maphorion. This clothing is very different from the red maphorion she is usually written in with the three stars to symbolize her perpetual virginity. Mary’s facial features are also different from those in Byzantine Iconography. This change can be observed as icons grow more out of that time frame. The once large eyes and narrow nose become more realistic looking. Despite these differences, Mary’s facial expression, and body position remains the same. She still lies in front of Jesus staring at Joseph with a look of compassion, seeming to understand what state of a mental conflict he is in.
Despite the discrepancies with clothing, in both renditions of the Icon of The Nativity of Christ, Joseph is written with the same conflict.

Although in the church his himation and chiton are brightly colored unlike the dark colors he wears in the Byzantine icon, is expression remains the same, conflicted. In both icons, he is written speaking to a man who is dressed in fur and looks seemingly like a shepherd. The telltale sign that the shepherd is more than meets the eye is the color in which he is clothed, black. In icons, the color black is used to represent evil or Satan. Joseph was tempted by the devil to believe a virgin birth was not possible. His facial expressions represent his internal conflict to understand something that is beyond

reason.
In both icons where Christ is identical down to the types of animal in the cave opening with him. Christ is wrapped in white swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This image in itself foreshadows the death of Christ. The manger strongly resembles the tomb, and the swaddling clothes strongly resemble the robes he is rapped in. The cave in which he was born even parallels his burial cave. The icon in the church has the Tetragrammaton, or God’s name in Greek outlined in red, making it stand out amongst the bright gold of the nimbus. The cow and donkey stand behind Christ looking down at him remain the same in both icons.
There are many other similarities between the two icons, such as the presence of the three kings, animals, and angles.

The presentation of these three elements is different between the two icons. The three kings in the church are written riding horses and are quite small in comparison to Mary. The kings in the Byzantine icon are written next to Mary and while smaller, not nearly as much as in the church icon. The animals also differ in size between the two icons. They are written much larger in the Byzantine icon. The presentation of the angles is relatively the same, two are pictured with clothes seeming to welcome Jesus in both icons, but in the church icon one angel is more focused on telling a shepherd something, and is also written with a merilo in his left hand. Although the presentation of all these figures is not identical, the hypostatic meaning derived from this icon remains intact. Except one major element missing in the icon of the

church.
A significant discrepancy between the two icons is the lack of the small scene in the bottom right-hand portion showing Jesus being bathed by two midwives. This scene shows that through kenosis Jesus gave up many of his divine qualities and therefore needed to be taken care of just like any other baby. The lack of this scene in the icon leads to it losing some of its hypostatic value.
Although someone of the hypostatic value of the icon is lost from the lack the scene with Jesus and the midwives, the icon in the church still retains its identity as an icon. The purpose of an icon is not to worship or to represent realistic accounts. The purpose of an icon is to act as a veil between the earthly plain and heaven and the icon at the church achieves that.