Blessed Silence

The scarce information for interpreting this icon only adds to its mysterious charm. Christ appears here as an angelic, ineffable, concealed embodiment of love.
This subject first appears in Russia in the fifteenth century, reviving the Byzantine iconography of the Angel of the Great Council. Christ is portrayed as the youthful Emmanuel, wearing a broad-sleeved sticharion embellished with pearls. The attributes of Christ, The Angel of Blessed Silence, are a beauty that is “the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit” (1 Peter 3:4); a discreet presence who “will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it be heard in the street” (Isaiah 42:2); the docility of one “afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb” (Isaiah 53:7). The absence of any scroll or book, as well as the hands crossed over the chest (the pose that the Orthodox assume when receiving Communion), expresses the Savior’s silence and his invitation to inner prayer, as inspired by David’s invocation to “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD”. (Psalm 141:3) Later icons show a star shaped halo over the head, and wings, symbols of the energy that gives life to the cosmos. Both are attributes of Divine Wisdom.
From the book Icons and Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church
Alfredo Tradigo


Dimensions: 10 1/4" tall, 7.5" wide, 0.5" thick

These icon prints are made with superior quality ultrachrome pigment ink, colorfast for up to 75 years, and are mounted for hanging or standing.