AN EXPLANATION OF THE ICON OF THE RESURRECTION
The Resurrection of Christ(Pascha)is “the feast of feasts and the celebration of celebrations; it excels all other festivals, as the sun excels the stars; and this is true not only of human and earthly feasts, but also of those belonging to Christ and celebrated for Christ,” according to St. Gregory the Theologian. This greatest of all feasts of the Church is singled out among other feasts as the highest manifestation of Christ’s omnipotence, the confirmation of faith and our own resurrection. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:17), says Apostle Paul.

In early times the Old Testament prefiguration of the event was used –the Prophet Jonah coming out of the whale’s belly. Then, there were icons based on the Gospel story of the angel appearing to the women bringing spices to the sepulchre, then iconography known as the Descent into Hell. The earliest known representation of this is the 5th century, found on the ciborium column in St. Mark’s Church in Venice.

In traditional Orthodox iconography the actual moment of the Resurrection of Christ was never depicted. Unlike their treatment of the Raising of Lazarus, both the Gospels and the Church Tradition are silent about that moment and do not say how Christ arose. Neither does the icon show it. This silence clearly expresses the difference between these two events. The raising of Lazarus was a miracle perceivable by all; whereas the Resurrection of Christ was inaccessible to any perception. The unfathomable character of this event for the human mind, and the consequent impossibility of depicting it, is the reason for the absence of icons of the Resurrection itself.

In the teaching of the Church, the Descent into Hell is indissolubly connected with the Redemption. Since Adam was dead, the abasement of the Savior, Who had assumed his nature, had to reach the same depths to which Adam had descended. The descent into hell represents the very limit of Christ’s degradation and, at the same time,the beginning of His glory. The icon of the Descent into Hell expresses the spiritual, transcendental reality of the Resurrection, and reveals the purpose and results.

The action of the icon takes place in the very depths of the earth, in hell, shown as a gaping black abyss. In the center of the icon is Christ, the Savior, appearing not as its captive, but as its Conqueror, the Deliverer of those imprisoned. With a radiant halo, symbol of glory, His garments no longer those in which He is portrayed during his service on earth, they are golden-yellow, luminous by thin golden rays painted on them, the darkness of hell is filled by the light of these Divine rays.