Heavenly Ladder icon, Mount Sinai
Type:
Icons
Date:
Late twelfth century
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Egypt
Dimensions:
41.1 × 29.5 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. Many icons were donated to Mount Sinai by pilgrims to the site.
A late twelfth-century icon shows the ladder to heaven that the Hebrew patriarch Jacob dreamed about (Gen. 28:12), given a Christian interpretation in the seventh century by a Sinai monk named John of the Ladder. In his interpretation, each rung of the ladder corresponds to a vice or virtue that a monk must overcome or attain in order to reach the blessing Christ at the top. While most monks progress upward, some are dragged off the ladder by demons and plummet into the dark mouth of hell.
A late twelfth-century icon shows the ladder to heaven that the Hebrew patriarch Jacob dreamed about (Gen. 28:12), given a Christian interpretation in the seventh century by a Sinai monk named John of the Ladder. In his interpretation, each rung of the ladder corresponds to a vice or virtue that a monk must overcome or attain in order to reach the blessing Christ at the top. While most monks progress upward, some are dragged off the ladder by demons and plummet into the dark mouth of hell.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
8
Repository and Online Resources:
• Read more about the icons at Mount Sinai on the Princeton University website.
Image Credits:
Saint Catherine's Monastery
