Page 6 - PROOF!v2

“Icons have a very strong theological content that you can a color, positioning, and symbolism. It’s almost logical; a syste
The deep bluish green behind the hand of the Father above represents the “uncreated light” – a light so bright that it cannot be seen with human eyes.
The halo represents an aura of sanctity, and is used to signify saints, Old Testament prophets, angels, the Virgin Mary, and the Four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).
Gold leaf, which has a glow that cannot be achieved with pigment, speaks of God’s presence, expressing His eternal, divine, and glori ed light.
John the Baptist is clothed in a camel’s hair garment. (Matthew 3:4)
Both the Father and the Son are making the traditional Eastern sign of the cross with their right hands, a practice that ended under the reforms of Nikon, Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church from 1652-58. In the modern Church (with the exception of the Old Believers, who reject Nikon’s reforms), the sign is made by bringing to a point the thumb, index, and middle ngers.
In Lane’s Baptism of the Lord, Christ is baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. “And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him.” (Matthew 3:16, King James Version)
1 Individual images are rst sketched in pencil on white butcher paper, then
composed to form an icon.
2Gesso is applied to a piece of 3⁄4" birch plywood. The white surface symbolizes creation – the beginning of the world.
3
Red earth pigment is rubbed into the back of each drawing.
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