Show me some Trinity Icons

[Dominus Fidelis]

Please.

And where can I buy some?

 

[Michael G]

Do you want a print or a hand painted one? A print is available here:
http://www.comeandseeicons.com/mgo09.htm
If you want one painted, email me.

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

Im thinking of something on wood like this picture...

 

[Michael G]

There was a time when those were very popular, but they are forbidden by the Council of Moscow of the 1500s. Icons like this were written prior to this time, and do continue to be written, but we are forbidden to write icons of the Father. To quote Christ: "He who has seen me, has seen the father." The closest you will get to that icon in Orthodox Iconography is Christ Enthroned in Glory.

 

[Dominus Fidelis]

There was a time when those were very popular, but they are forbidden by the Council of Moscow of the 1500s. Icons like this were written prior to this time, and do continue to be written, but we are forbidden to write icons of the Father. To quote Christ: "He who has seen me, has seen the father." The closest you will get to that icon in Orthodox Iconography is Christ Enthroned in Glory.

Why is it forbidden?

 

[Michael G]

It is forbidden because no man has seen the Father, or the Holy Spirit for that matter. Man has only seen Christ, and we can not depict what we have not seen. Being that we have seen Christ, we may depict him. The only way to represent these two (the Father and the Holy Spirit) is in the Old Testament Trinity (whose link I have already posted) because the three angels who visited Abraham were a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The only other icon which you will find the Holy Spirit in is the Icon of the Theophany (Baptism in the Jordan) where for artistic representation sake he is depicted as a dove. Even icons of the Ancient of Days, with his long beard, are of Christ and not the Father.

 

[Matrona]

Defens0rFidei,

I know these aren't exactly what you had in mind, but here are a couple icons of the Holy Trinity that you might like anyway:

http://www.skete.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=42&Product_ID=306

http://www.skete.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=42&Product_ID=305

The first one is the Rublev icon of the Old Testament Trinity, a very famous icon. The second one is also the Hospitality of Abraham but is from the early 19th century.

Skete.com is a great place to get icons--they do fine work and I like supporting a monastery. Also, their prices are very reasonable. Comeandseeicons.com is also very good--that's where you can find our resident iconographer's work. I am scraping together my pennies for their 6 Liturgists icon.

 

[Nickolai]

It is forbidden because no man has seen the Father, or the Holy Spirit for that matter. Man has only seen Christ, and we can not depict what we have not seen. Being that we have seen Christ, we may depict him. The only way to represent these two (the Father and the Holy Spirit) is in the Old Testament Trinity (whose link I have already posted) because the three angels who visited Abraham were a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The only other icon which you will find the Holy Spirit in is the Icon of the Theophany (Baptism in the Jordan) where for artistic representation sake he is depicted as a dove. Even icons of the Ancient of Days, with his long beard, are of Christ and not the Father.

Don't forget the Annunciation. There is often a Dove in that Icon too.

 

[Oblio]

From another thread:

For centuries, paintings and drawings have depicted the trinity as two men and a bird. In 1667, the Great Moscow Council of the Eastern churches declared "To represent the [Father] on icons with a gray beard, with his only Son on his lap, and a dove between them, is exceedingly absurd and unseemly,"[1] but that doesn't seem to have stopped artists from either the East or the West from perpetuating such depictions.

1 - Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, trans. G. E. H. Palmer and E. Kadlowbovsky (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), 204, quoted in Gail Ramshaw, God Beyond Gender: Feminist Christian God-Language (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995), 88.

 

[Michael G]

From another thread:

For centuries, paintings and drawings have depicted the trinity as two men and a bird. In 1667, the Great Moscow Council of the Eastern churches declared "To represent the [Father] on icons with a gray beard, with his only Son on his lap, and a dove between them, is exceedingly absurd and unseemly,"[1] but that doesn't seem to have stopped artists from either the East or the West from perpetuating such depictions.

1 - Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, trans. G. E. H. Palmer and E. Kadlowbovsky (Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1982), 204, quoted in Gail Ramshaw, God Beyond Gender: Feminist Christian God-Language (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995), 88.

Most iconographers today do not want to touch the idea of depicting God the Father as an Old Man with a long white beard. You will find those representations on some older icons in OCA churches, but even the priests will admit those type of icons make them uneasy. Yes, the Holy Spirit shows up as a dove in a few icons, but he did appear as a dove in the NT so that is entirely possible. If, however, you look at creation icons, it is clearly Christ who is depicted as doing the creating, and not God the father. I go back to my original statement that the Old Testament Trinity is the only proper way to depict the Trinity.

Thank you for the page reference to Ouspensky & Lossky.

 

[InnerPhyre]

It is forbidden because no man has seen the Father, or the Holy Spirit for that matter. Man has only seen Christ, and we can not depict what we have not seen. Being that we have seen Christ, we may depict him. The only way to represent these two (the Father and the Holy Spirit) is in the Old Testament Trinity (whose link I have already posted) because the three angels who visited Abraham were a manifestation of the Holy Trinity. The only other icon which you will find the Holy Spirit in is the Icon of the Theophany (Baptism in the Jordan) where for artistic representation sake he is depicted as a dove. Even icons of the Ancient of Days, with his long beard, are of Christ and not the Father.

Can the Holy Spirit be depicted as tongues of fire since they have been seen?

 

[Michael G]

Can the Holy Spirit be depicted as tongues of fire since they have been seen?

In the Icon of the Descent of the Holy Spirit Upon the Apostles the Holy Spirit is sometimes depicted as tongues of fire. Also, in many icons, a ray of light coming out of a cloud in the upper right corner (Heaven) is used to depict the action of God.