Flesh Made Visible: What Are Icons?

Images form and deform us. They are essential to our spiritual life: silent yet powerful, they either draw us away from God or towards Him. This is expressed beautifully in the words of the great theologian, St. John of Damascus: “Just as words encourage hearing, so do images stimulate the eyes.” Man needs something to look upon, something which can serve as a visual reminder of God. Icons fulfil this role.

The word “icon” comes from the Greek word eikōn, meaning image or likeness. An icon is more than an image; it seeks to direct the viewer towards a reality that transcends what our physical eyes can see. Unlike other images, which may merely reproduce the appearance of objects, people, or events according to human perception, an icon transcends these boundaries and is created within the theological and liturgical life of the Church. It is not merely a picture, illustration, or religious painting, but rather a sacred image which directs the beholder towards the person depicted, inviting the viewer to encounter the person represented.

Yet, how can something supernatural, divine, invisible, and immaterial be depicted? The answer to this question lies in the mystery of the Incarnation, when Christ Himself became man: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

St. John of Damascus writes:

“Of old, God the incorporeal and formless was never depicted, but now that God has been seen in the flesh and has associated with humankind, I depict what I have seen of God. I do not venerate matter, I venerate the Fashioner of matter, who became matter for my sake and accepted to dwell in matter and through matter worked my salvation… Do not abuse matter; for it is not dishonourable… The only thing that is dishonourable is something that does not have its origin from God.” (On the Divine Images, Treatise I, 16).

Nevertheless, icons are not mere representations of earthly forms, nor do they simply reproduce the perspective of earthly reality, for in Orthodoxy, the value and beauty of the visible world do not lie merely in the temporary splendour of its present state, but rather in its potential transfiguration. “True beauty is the radiance of the Holy Spirit, the holiness of and the participation in the life of the world to come.”

This reality is the reason why icons are not depicted in the form of naturalistic realism, as explained in the words of St. Theodore the Studite: “The representation of Christ ... is not in the likeness of a corruptible man ... it is in the likeness of the incorruptible man, but incorruptible precisely because He is not simply a man, but God who became man.” An icon, therefore, bears witness both to the reality of His humanity and to the glory of His divinity.

Therefore, the task of an icon in the New Testament is to portray as faithfully as possible the truth of the divine Incarnation. The image of the man Jesus is the image of God, as the Holy Fathers, having His icon in mind, said: “In the same Christ, we contemplate both the inexpressible and the represented”: His divinity, which cannot be depicted, and His humanity, through which He became visible to us.

Thus, an icon is also an image of the deified prototype. Consequently, it does not portray an imaginary or idealised humanity, but the very humanity of Christ, transfigured and illuminated by divine grace. It does not attempt to depict the divine essence, nor does it portray a different or imaginary body detached from His historical humanity. Rather, it bears witness to the same humanity that Christ assumed and glorified through His saving work, Resurrection, and Ascension, pointing towards the transfiguration of human nature and the promise of our own participation in divine life through grace.

Iconography strives to portray Christ, other sacred persons, and sacred events in forms visible to physical eyes, while at the same time refraining from merely naturalistic or worldly representations, such as ordinary portraiture. Whereas the latter depicts ordinary human appearances, an icon represents a person in relation to God. That is why an icon’s purpose is not naturalistic likeness or photographic realism; rather, it employs its own sacred form and visual language, which departs from ordinary perspective and uses flattened spaces, frontal figures, distinctive colour schemes, and proportions to draw one beyond this realm, towards the Divine, the deified, and the eternal. It is a visual language that represents the reality beyond the transient physical world and points towards the life of the age to come.

Perhaps, in asking, “What is an icon?”, it might also be appropriate to ask, “What can an image do?”

An icon draws us towards a reality beyond this world. It is not merely a religious image, but rather a sacred representation that directs us towards the person depicted. As St. Basil the Great teaches, the honour given to the image passes to its prototype.

Iconography sacredly transforms the meaning of an image and what it communicates, revealing a relationship between the visible and the invisible, between the material and the immaterial. Here, FLESH is depicted neither as an abstraction nor as a slavish attempt to confine Christ to a naturalistic or hyperrealistic portrait, but as a testament to the reality that God truly became man.

An icon is a confession and a witness to the Incarnation of Christ, Who became man, and a means through which His presence among mankind is made visible. Through iconography, the Church continues to confess this mystery, directing our eyes and hearts towards Christ, the One who became visible so that we might be saved.

“I do not worship matter; I worship the Creator of matter, who became matter for my sake.” — St. John of Damascus

“No one could describe the Word of the Father; but when He took flesh from you, O Theotokos, He accepted to be described, and restored the fallen image to its former state by uniting it to divine beauty. We confess and proclaim our salvation in word and images.” — Kontakion of the Triumph of Orthodoxy

References:

Ouspensky, L. (1978). The Meaning and Content of the Icon. In Theology of the Icon. St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
Ouspensky, L., & Lossky, V. (1982). The Meaning of Icons. St Vladimir’s Seminary Press
Sixth Session, Mansi XIII