They painted a beautiful, robust
Pantocrator, combining humanity and divine glory. But the look in His eyes has
something special, which deserves special mention. The Pantocrator’s eyebrows
are emphatically raised, so that Christ’s eyes are particularly focused on the
believer, who converses in prayer with the God-Man. His raised eyebrows draw
the facial muscles upward and create horizontal wrinkles which furrow the
forehead. He “leans” over the viewer. He pays special attention to that person,
not passing him over indifferently, but looking at him with wide-open eyes that
raise the upper eyelids, wrinkling the forehead of the God-Man as if He loves
man so deeply that He suffers with him, considering his plight, desiring to
support him, to help him. Here we have the central idea and theological reality
that characterizes the Astrapas school—God’s humanity. Gracanica’s uniqueness
lies in the fact that the so-called Pantocrator, which inspires liturgical awe,
is depicted not just as the God-Man—i.e., God who assumed human nature—but as
Co-Man, identifying Himself with man in his suffering and helplessness,
identifying Himself with human pain through His suffering on the Cross and His
humiliating death. Through His philanthropic gaze, the majestic Pantocrator
lowers Himself and meets His creation. The eternal and infinite meets the
finite in a particular place and time, within history, where they reconcile
within the same fate.
This composition, with its wrinkles
in the forehead, was not repeated in other Byzantine churches, perhaps because
its boldness brought it to the threshold of the psychologization of the divine
drama. The drama of the Cross is not confined to the human emotions of pain and
torment, but within the Church’s liturgy is illuminated by the overcoming of
tragedy by the Resurrection of Christ, who thus becomes the Savior of both man
and all creation. Gracanica’s Pantocrator is, therefore, truly unique, since it
was not copied from anyone. It is original and loving, and for this reason it
constitutes a portrait of God, as Christ’s wonderfully loving eyes have
revealed it to human beings. The riddle of human destiny finds its solution in
the Pantocrator’s theandric gaze.
The article comes from Fr. Stamatis' wonderful website:
http://www.holyicon.org/
