What's the meaning of this picture?

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This is a picture posted by Catholictv.com on their Facebook page for All Saints Day. What does each character in this image signify? I know that’s Jesus in the middle surrounded by the saints. But what is that chest below Jesus? Who is that bearded man holding a cloth with all those heads? What do those heads signify? Who is that man holding a cross-stick? Who is that bearded man with a child? Is it God the Father with God the Son? Who are those kings holding scrolls? What is the overall meaning of this picture?

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/409113_10151211056626108_574920579_n.jpg
 
I’ll start with a part.

On the outside of the inner red circle are the four Gospel writers represented as a human with wings (Matthew) an eagle (John), a winged lion (Mark) and a winged Ox (Luke).

They are small and tangent to the ring between 10-11 o’clock 1-2, 7-8 and 4-5 respectively. Best guess is they are supporting that ring, the Word of our Risen Lord

The are not at the “four corners” of the circle…but that’s what that part is of the painting.

Is their not some explanation where you got this?

I remember as a kid having All Saints Day off…a great time to sort Halloween candy!
 
Unfortunately I only know some what’s going on, but I can tell you that much:

Christ is in the center, surrounded by the Holy Evangelists as 57 Bill said.

Above Him is an angel, probably Holy Wisdom. The Sun and Moon are on either side of Holy Wisdom.

The Theotokos is to the right of Christ in a red robe with three stars on her shoulders and head. St. John the Forerunner is to his left in green.

Surrounding them are the saints. Some I recognize, some I don’t. They’re together with likes, so the archangels are together at the top, I see one row of bishops, etc.

At the bottom of the circle, on either side of the “chest” (which I think is the Throne) are probably Ss. Joachim and Anna, the Righteous Ancestors of God.

At the very bottom is the Bosom of Abraham, but I don’t know which Patriarchs are which. One is Abraham, the other is likely Jacob, The man between them with the cross staff is the Good Thief, St. Dismas.

At the top are two saintly kings, possibly also prophets. One is probably David. I don’t know who the other is.

Finally this isn’t a picture, it’s an Icon.
 

  1. *]I don’t think it’s a chest. But a footstool. Like Bible says Earth is God’s footstool, Heaven is His throne. The people kneeling at the chest-looking footstool are Adam and Eve. Usually in icons Adam and Eve are always resembled by a bearded man (Adam) and a woman with a veil (Eve) bowing down before the throne of Jesus.
    *]The man holding the “cross-stick” is “St. Dismas” which in Catholic tradition, is the good theif who was crucified next to Jesus (Luke 23:39-43), as opposed to the bad who is traditionally named “Gestas.” Dismas is always shown in icons are a half-naked man carrying a cross-stick.
    *]The man with beard holding the child is not God. He is Abraham. “Abraham’s Bosom” was used in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus and Good people went to “the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22) and the rich man and bad people went to “Hades (Luke 16:23).” I think the guy with many heads is the same person.
    *]As someone mentioned earlier, the “kings” are gospel writers.
    *]The overall picture is basically symbolizing Heaven and Paradise.
 
followingtheway said:


  1. *]The man with beard holding the child is not God. He is Abraham. “Abraham’s Bosom” was used in Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. (Luke 16:19-31). Lazarus and Good people went to “the bosom of Abraham” (Luke 16:22) and the rich man and bad people went to “Hades (Luke 16:23).” I think the guy with many heads is the same person.
Click to expand...

  1. So…it looks like is also Abraham (on the right) with the bowl with heads…representing Abraham’s bosom?

    Are the Apostles here somewhere? Or are they the variosu Patriarchs?
 
57Bill said:
I’ll start with a part.

On the outside of the inner red circle are the four Gospel writers represented as a human with wings (Matthew) an eagle (John), a winged lion (Mark) and a winged Ox (Luke).

They are small and tangent to the ring between 10-11 o’clock 1-2, 7-8 and 4-5 respectively. Best guess is they are supporting that ring, the Word of our Risen Lord

!
Click to expand...
I see them…one has to look closely.
 
pablope said:
So…it looks like is also Abraham (on the right) with the bowl with heads…representing Abraham’s bosom?

Are the Apostles here somewhere? Or are they the variosu Patriarchs?
Click to expand...
No the entire bottom section is supposed to be representative of Abraham’s bosom. The man on the left (when facing the Icon) is Abraham. Those are his many descendants stretching out behind him. The one on the left is Jacob (I see the Greek which I didn’t notice before. It says “Iakos” which is Jacob.) He’s not holding a bowl of heads, it’s a cloth containing his sons - who would become the Tribes of Israel.

I don’t see the Apostles, which is strange, unless that’s some of them between the row of Prophets (stretching out behind the Forerunner) and the row of Bishops. Some more might be near the feet of the Theotokos on the other side. The rest might be in the row underneath the bishops.
 
Rawb said:
No the entire bottom section is supposed to be representative of Abraham’s bosom. The man on the left (when facing the Icon) is Abraham. Those are his many descendants stretching out behind him. The one on the left is Jacob (I see the Greek which I didn’t notice before. It says “Iakos” which is Jacob.) He’s not holding a bowl of heads, it’s a cloth containing his sons - who would become the Tribes of Israel.

I don’t see the Apostles, which is strange, unless that’s some of them between the row of Prophets (stretching out behind the Forerunner) and the row of Bishops. Some more might be near the feet of the Theotokos on the other side. The rest might be in the row underneath the bishops.
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Thanks, Rawb…makes sense. Anyway…looking closer, at the top, where the two king are…there is some greek there…can you decipher what the letters spell?
 
My Greek is really bad, my wife’s is better. After consulting with her a transliteration would be “Hagioi Panes” which means “All Holies” and in English would really be “All Saints”

And I suppose it makes sense as much as Jacob having a cloth full of his sons’ disembodied heads makes sense…lol. I don’t know why they were written that way. Could’ve just been the Iconographer didn’t want to paint twelve whole bodies lol.
 
timwatt said:
This is a picture posted by Catholictv.com on their Facebook page for All Saints Day. What does each character in this image signify? I know that’s Jesus in the middle surrounded by the saints. But what is that chest below Jesus? Who is that bearded man holding a cloth with all those heads? What do those heads signify? Who is that man holding a cross-stick? Who is that bearded man with a child? Is it God the Father with God the Son? Who are those kings holding scrolls? What is the overall meaning of this picture?

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/409113_10151211056626108_574920579_n.jpg
Click to expand...
First, it’s an icon. 😉 Starting from the bottom, Abraham (Αβραάμ) is the old man with child on his lap (I assume the kid is Isaac?), the man wearing a loincloth holding a miniature cross is the good thief, and the man holding the cloth with human heads is Jacob (Ἰακώβ). The garden setting the three are in equals Paradise. The two kings at the top aren’t labeled, but I think they are David and Solomon.

At the middle, just beside the sun and the moon, you have Jesus represented as the angel-like Blessed Silence (I assume that because of the eight-pointed green halo). Just below that is of course Jesus as King, and again below that is the prepared empty throne, the hetoimasia. (So, all in all, you have Jesus represented three times in this icon!) Meanwhile, the four small creatures flanking Jesus in the middle are of course the four living creatures (man, lion, eagle, ox). I think the elderly couple bowing at both sides of the hetoimasia are Adam and Eve. Meanwhile, flanking Jesus in the middle - you could somewhat recognize them, given that they’re the only ones in that tier represented almost full-length - are Mary and John the Baptist in a supplicatory gesture (Deēsis). Starting from the top, you have the angels (recognizable enough), the prophets (the two guys in the third row at the viewer’s left with the weird hats), the apostles (the ones wearing tunics and cloaks), perhaps the hierarchs (fourth row at the viewer’s right, the ones in clerical vestments). I don’t know how to classify everyone else.
 
Rawb said:
My Greek is really bad, my wife’s is better. After consulting with her a transliteration would be “Hagioi Panes” which means “All Holies” and in English would really be “All Saints”

And I suppose it makes sense as much as Jacob having a cloth full of his sons’ disembodied heads makes sense…lol. I don’t know why they were written that way. Could’ve just been the Iconographer didn’t want to paint twelve whole bodies lol.
Click to expand...
Yep. To be more exact, it’s oi hagioi pantes. I assume the tau got cut off (perhaps joined with another letter) or left out. BTW, if you look carefully, you’d see that only ten or eleven heads are represented. 😛

As for the scrolls: I checked the one on the right and it seems to say: δικαιοι εις τον αἰων ζωσι κ ἐν κω. It is a (highly-abbreviated) quote from Wisdom of Solomon 5:15: Δίκαιοι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ζῶσι, καὶ ἐν Κυρίῳ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἡ φροντὶς αὐτῶν παρὰ Ὑψίστῳ. “The righteous live forever, and in the Lord is their recompense, and the thought of them is with the Most High.” As for the left: αγαλλιασθαι δικαιοι εν κυριω τ…] ευ…] (cf. Psalm 33:1 Αγαλλιάσθε δίκαιοι ἐν Κυρίῳ τοῖς εὐθέσι πρέπει αἴνεσις “Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; praise becomes the upright.”) I guess it confirms that these two are David and Solomon.
 
BTW, here’s another good icon. This time, the hetoimasia is on top (as well as Adam and Eve), the four living creatures are more distinguishable, Constantine and Helena (the king and queen holding the cross) are visible just below Jesus, and Abraham and the good thief are in Paradise.



Yet another one: hetoimasia at the top, David and Solomon, Abraham, the good thief, and Jacob in Paradise joined by another elderly figure (perhaps Isaac?).



This one has the labels in English. Shame much of them are too small to read though.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
patrick457 said:
Yep. To be more exact, it’s oi hagioi pantes. I assume the tau got cut off (perhaps joined with another letter) or left out. BTW, if you look carefully, you’d see that only ten or eleven heads are represented. 😛
Click to expand...
That’s what my wife was complaining about “There should be a tau in here…I wonder if they combined it with some other letter…” I just know enough to recognize Agios and sometimes letters to sound out who the saint is. Most of the time I know 'em by face more than name. I think I recognize St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom in there. It could be Chrysostom and the Three Holy Hierarchs maybe.

By counting very carefully (and perhaps creatively) I was able to get 12. One of them follows the contour of his brother very, very closely however.

EDIT: Looking more closely I may have been counting an ear as a man…like I said. Creatively.
 
For more similarly-themed icons:



Here the saints are neatly classified, the hetoimasia with the cross is below our Lord’s feet, the Theotokos and the Forerunner again flank Christ. That being said, I’m curious about the three angels above Jesus (you can also see it in the icon with the English labels I posted earlier). Part of me thinks that this might be the archangels, but I’m also holding the possibility that these are representations of the three angels who visited Abraham.





 
Rawb said:
That’s what my wife was complaining about “There should be a tau in here…I wonder if they combined it with some other letter…” I just know enough to recognize Agios and sometimes letters to sound out who the saint is. Most of the time I know 'em by face more than name. I think I recognize St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom in there. It could be Chrysostom and the Three Holy Hierarchs maybe.

By counting very carefully (and perhaps creatively) I was able to get 12. One of them follows the contour of his brother very, very closely however.

EDIT: Looking more closely I may have been counting an ear as a man…like I said. Creatively.
Click to expand...
The good thing with icons is that you could pretty much figure out who’s who if you get used to it. 😃 BTW, isn’t Chrysostom one of the Three Holy Hierarchs? And yes, it kinda looks like them (fourth row on viewer’s right):

Short beard (left): John Chrysostom
Man with long, pointed beard (middle): Basil the Great
Old man with bushy white beard (right): Gregory Nazianzus

As for the fourth guy, not entirely sure. Judging by his hair, St. Nicholas, perhaps?
 
patrick457 said:
The good thing with icons is that you could pretty much figure out who’s who if you get used to it. 😃 BTW, isn’t Chrysostom one of the Three Holy Hierarchs? And yes, it kinda looks like them (fourth row on viewer’s right):

Short beard (left): John Chrysostom
Man with long, pointed beard (middle): Basil the Great
Old man with bushy white beard (right): Gregory Nazianzus

As for the fourth guy, not entirely sure. Judging by his hair, St. Nicholas, perhaps?
Click to expand...
You’re right about the Holy Heirarchs, I was thinking of the Cappadocian Fathers.

He doesn’t look quite like St. Nicholas to me, but it’s very small. It’s quite possible it’s him. I don’t know who else it would be.

I think St. Anthony of the Desert is under the Theotokos, and St. Helen of the True Cross is under him. I think the man behind St. John the Forerunner might be St. Peter, but I can’t pick out the other apostles. They don’t ‘look like themselves’ really, St. Paul is usually easy to point out, but he should be right by St. Peter and balding, and St. Andrew is redheaded but he’s not there from what I can tell. Ah well.
 
This thread is extremely informative and I am just fascinated by all the sharing here. Thank you very much for explaining these holy icons to us.
 
timwatt said:
This is a picture posted by Catholictv.com on their Facebook page for All Saints Day. What does each character in this image signify? I know that’s Jesus in the middle surrounded by the saints. But what is that chest below Jesus? Who is that bearded man holding a cloth with all those heads? What do those heads signify? Who is that man holding a cross-stick? Who is that bearded man with a child? Is it God the Father with God the Son? Who are those kings holding scrolls? What is the overall meaning of this picture?

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/409113_10151211056626108_574920579_n.jpg
Click to expand...
in the high and low middle ages most of the population were largly ignorant of reading and writing but they learned most of what they knew in Churches and the after vernacular versions of the bible gradually came about in the late sixth century to the late 1300’s many people enjoyed being read to about the truths of God and his church.

and above all look up Scholasticism dear sir:thumbsup:
 
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