Comparison Of Byzantine Iconography And St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

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In the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church the icon of The Nativity of Christ is located in the center of the North wall on the first story of icons.
It is clear that modern day iconography appears to look nothing like Byzantine Iconography. These differences are more than just the colors used and the different facial structures. The icon of The Nativity of Christ differs significantly from how it is depicted in Byzantine Iconography and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. This change in depiction, although drastic, does not make the icon in the church fail at its purpose of being an icon.
The most noticeable discrepancy between the icon in the church and the Byzantine rendition is how Mary is clothed. In the church, she is written wearing …show more content…

Although in the church his himation and chiton are brightly colored unlike the dark colors he wears in the Byzantine icon, is expression remains the same, conflicted. In both icons, he is written speaking to a man who is dressed in fur and looks seemingly like a shepherd. The telltale sign that the shepherd is more than meets the eye is the color in which he is clothed, black. In icons, the color black is used to represent evil or Satan. Joseph was tempted by the devil to believe a virgin birth was not possible. His facial expressions represent his internal conflict to understand something that is beyond …show more content…

The presentation of these three elements is different between the two icons. The three kings in the church are written riding horses and are quite small in comparison to Mary. The kings in the Byzantine icon are written next to Mary and while smaller, not nearly as much as in the church icon. The animals also differ in size between the two icons. They are written much larger in the Byzantine icon. The presentation of the angles is relatively the same, two are pictured with clothes seeming to welcome Jesus in both icons, but in the church icon one angel is more focused on telling a shepherd something, and is also written with a merilo in his left hand. Although the presentation of all these figures is not identical, the hypostatic meaning derived from this icon remains intact. Except one major element missing in the icon of the

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