Icon of Christ, Mount Sinai
Type:
Icons
Date:
ca. 600
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Egypt
Medium:
Encaustic painting
Dimensions:
84 × 45.5 cm
Description:
The Orthodox monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai (later renamed in honor of the fourth-century martyr St. Catherine) contains more than half of all surviving Byzantine icons, a Greek word that means images in general but especially panels that depict holy figures. In this remote location they were preserved from the destruction of images during the two periods of Byzantine iconoclasm. The earliest icons date to about 600. They were painted in the encaustic technique. The Sinai Christ icon displays obvious asymmetry between the left and right halves of the face, either to make the image seem more lifelike or to suggest Christ's human and divine natures. Like the Sinai St. Peter icon, it has an architectural backgrounds derived from Roman art.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
3
Repository and Online Resources:
• Read more about the icons at Mount Sinai on the Princeton University website.
Image Credits:
Saint Catherine's Monastery
