Icon quesion: is this a Guardian Angel, or is it Jesus?

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Hello all,

Today a friend and I met with a nun who is also an iconographer. We had an excellent time, and spent two hours with her in the studio, viewing different icons, learning about the materials and technique, etc. At the end, I bought a photo plaque reproduction of one of her icons of a guardian angel. I figured that I need to foster more devotion to my guardian angel, so this would be a good way. You can see a picture of the original here: saintjosephstudio.com/store.php?item=24#display

On the front of the icon, there is the inscription, “Guardian Angel”. However, on the back of the plaque, on the little sticker with the product info, it says, “Central Angel of the Old Testament Trinity”. I know that the Old Testament Trinity is, of course, St. Andrei Rublev’s famous icon depicting the Trinity as Abraham’s three angelic visitors. I’ve also been told that the central figure is Christ. The Angel depicted in the icon I have looks just like the central figure in the Old Testament Trinity icon.

So, I’m wondering: is this an icon of a guardian angel, or is it an icon of Christ? In other words, should I venerate this icon when I’m praying to my guardian angel, or should I venerate it when I am praying directly to Our Lord? I want to know who I’m looking at! I’m eager to add this icon to my icon corner in my room, but I’d like to know just who is depicted first, so that I will know whether to place the icon in a place of pre-eminent importance (if it’s an icon of Christ), or to place it more off to the sidelines, below the icons of Christ and the Theotokos (if it’s a guardian angel).
 
It is neither. It is a rendition of a part of an icon which has a specific icongraphy so, at best, it might be considered something of ‘a quotation out of context’. To depict ‘Christ’ as a ‘guardian angel’ is a serious error.

Examples such as these might serve your purpose better.

iconstudio.jordanville.org/images/Icons%20of%20the%20Angels/Guardian-Angel-2.jpg

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lrdeay898c1qkynm4.jpg

c0003143.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/catalog/product/cache/61/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/T/h/The-Guardian-Angel.jpg

istok.net/images/cache/d51ae94091d9af0eecf6d9a1dcac5012.jpg

05varvara.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/guardian-angel.jpg
 
As the icon description said, it is part of Rublev’s Trinity icon (the Hospitality of Abraham icon). It is the close up view of the angel in the middle.
Now, in Rublev’s icon, the three angels depicted in a very special form.
The most left Angel, somehow represents the Father. He wears white, and all other angels points to him.
The middle Angel, somehow represents the Son. He wears blue and red, his hand gestures like hand of Christ giving blessing.
While the most right Angel, somehow represents the Spirit. He wears green, the color of new life and of pentecost.

So, the description of the icon is quite accurate.
 
So, the consensus seems to be that it’s Our Lord, then. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut 🙂
 
Jeffgo said:
So, the consensus seems to be that it’s Our Lord, then. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut 🙂
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The consensus is that it is the Holy Trinity as they appeared to Abraham in the Old Testament.
 
I once heard that the angel in the middle of Rublev’s Holy Trinity icon wears a stripe on his right shoulder, indicating that he was a high priest, which is what Jesus is to us. Icons are chock-full of symbols, and were used in early times to teach the faith to those who were illiterate, which, back in the day was most everyone.
 
Jeffgo said:
So, the consensus seems to be that it’s Our Lord, then. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut 🙂
Click to expand...
That is the genius of Rublev. The angels are angels which came to Abraham. But concealed are the Trinity. Thus, I say, that the Rublev’s Trinity icon, is actually an icon which depicts the icon of the Trinity. The icon within that icon, is the three angels.

Now regarding the close up icon, can we say it is an icon of Christ or is it an icon of an Angel but not Christ?
Well, up to the beholder to contemplate it.
For myself, I’ll keep it as “an icon of an icon of Christ.” 😃
 
This is not actually an icon of Christ and I would not venerate it as such. The ‘Old Testament Trinity’ in the Hospitality of Abraham icon is a sign or prophecy of the coming manifestation of the Holy Trinity in the New Testament. It is not an actual ‘incarnation’ of any of the 3 Persons of the Trinity. The central figure in the icon is a type of Christ - as was Melchizedek - and not Christ himself. The best proof of this in iconographic terms is that there is no cross within the halo behind the angel’s head. In every iconographic depiction of Christ, he has this cross.
 
There is an icon out there called “The Blessed Silence” . I have heard from many Orthodox that is wrong to venerate these icons.
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 

  1. *]If the figure in the icon is identified by an inscription, “Guardian Angel,” then pray to it as a Guardian Angel! Yes, it is a copy of the middle angel in Rublev’s icon (shown as a bust only); but it only confuses things for the painter to identify it as such on the back of the icon. Taken out of the context of Rublev’s icon, the bust just shows an angel. Maybe it’s better for iconographers not to so loosely interpret the canonical iconic forms.
    *]FWIW: In the biblical story about Mamre, it is the LORD, (ὁ θεὸς in the Septuagint), who appears to Abraham. The LORD is described as three men, not angels. Abraham makes a prostration before them. This is a theophany, an appearance of God, by its nature mysterious and incomprehensible. They don’t “represent” anything; they are God.
    *]The icons shown above showing the angel Hesychia are canonical and still being produced; there is nothing wrong with making or venerating the icons.

    My $.02.
 
Matt V,
I thought that The Patriarch of Moscow prohibited the making of icons which depicted Christ as an angel and as the Hply Wisdom?
 
I found this on an Orthodox forum where they were discussing the type of icon I posted above.
  • The special decree of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church proclaimed on May 21, 1722. This decree prohibited a whole series of icons which were deemed to be “contrary to nature, to history, and to truth itself”. Included in this list was “…the image of the Wisdom of God in the form of a winged youth or girl…”
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  • More recent decrees, such as those issued by the Moscow Patriarchate in May, 1935, and by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in October of the same year, also forbid such portrayals. These decrees were issued in response to the growing popularity of the Sophian heresies promoted by Vladimir Soloviev, and priests Paul Florensky and Sergei Bulgakov. These men espoused the notion that the wisdon (sophia) of God represented the “divine feminine”, and had constructed an elaborate but heretical “theology” around this notion. It is quite telling that the winged wisdom image has yet again gained popularity in recent years, as it corresponds nicely to many feminist, New-Age and neo-pagan ideas on divinity and “mysticism”.
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jrpoconut said:
I once heard that the angel in the middle of Rublev’s Holy Trinity icon wears a stripe on his right shoulder, indicating that he was a high priest, which is what Jesus is to us. Icons are chock-full of symbols, and were used in early times to teach the faith to those who were illiterate, which, back in the day was most everyone.
Click to expand...
Actually, the strip is called *clavi *was used in the construction of garments in the 1st century. There are often 2 such bands and are colored gold or purple when Christ is depicted.

This info is from SACRED DOORWAYS: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO ICONS by Linette Martin Paraclete Press 2002.

Hope it helps.
 
Ironically enough, I bought a copy of Sacred Doorways when I bought the icon that this thread is about…
 
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