Icon by Vladislav Andrejev, 2024. (Click on image to enlarge)

A New Icon: The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea

A true icon must not only be the record of an event in Church history. It should lead the viewer to the contemplation of the essentials of the event—to its mystical, spiritual side and its salvific effects. The intention behind this new icon, The Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, is to bring out the full significance of an Ecumenical Council. This didactic icon can be viewed as a paradigm expressing the various dimensions that need to be sensed in any proper Church synod.

There have been seven Ecumenical Councils, but there is one incarnate pre-eternal Word of God, “the same yesterday and today and forever.”*1 Each Council saw its participants presenting their theological views in debate, often heated and not always under fair circumstances, but the results were clear dogmas and single clear definitions (oroi). Dogmas and definitions of the councils are not simply the “plausible” outcome of human “enlightened opinions.” Without denying the imperfection inherent to human procedings during the Councils, the admixture of political agendas, the limitations of language and other factors, the Church must cling to dogmatic truth expressed by the Councils as the product of the enlightening activity of the living Word of God in the Holy Spirit.

Thus, the idea of the present icon is to include and emphasize the “upper registers” of the event of a Church Council. The historical event of Nicaea I is but the tip of this inverted iceberg, and we see, in the lowermost register of the icon, the traditional iconography of a Council.*2 Here, the Holy Emperor Constantine who called the Council together presides, flanked by the synod of bishops. Some of these have the recognisable features of various Church Fathers who took part in the Council (St Nicholas, St Spyridon…). This foundational scene, literally on ground level in the icon, is the visual record of the historical event. It draws its holiness from the inner, unseen life of the Church and the presence of God in it, and these are accentuated in the higher registers of the icon.

The heart of the icon is reserved for a circular image which emphasizes the importance of the presence and vitality of the Logos in any proper human gathering. This is the icon of Mid-Pentecost in which we see the young Jesus Christ teaching the elders in the Jerusalem temple, “my Father’s house,” where he stayed behind without the knowledge of his earthly parents.*3 This event can be seen as a paradigmatic proto-council convened by the young Logos himself. The iconography of this icon, taken by itself, offers a spiritual interpretation of the event. Doubtless, there were many more Old Testament teachers in the temple, but the icon condenses them into six, not imagining realism but exegeting meaning. They represent the six days of creation, and Christ comes into their midst as their Creator, Chief and raison d’être (logos), becoming himself the Holy Sabbath. As the creative divine Word “through” whom and “for” whom “all things were created,”*4 he is depicted larger in size than the elders. It is a depiction of the centrality of the youthful, “increasing”*5 Divine Logos within created, prone to aging earthly life and—important to the theme of the Councils—within earthly human discourse. The icon of Mid-Pentecost also reminds of the event of Christ’s first self-revelation as teacher and Messiah in the synagogue, when he was given the book of Isaiah and read out: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”*6 Thus, in this central register of the Nicaea icon, the emphasis is on the revelation of the divine Word, rather than on rational thought about him. The young Jesus is not so much debating with the wise men as appearing in their midst and instructing them.

The next register of our icon, immediately surrounding the Mid-Pentecost, will be recognised as the icon of Pentecost. This most essential event of Christianity, the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, cannot be lost sight of during any activity in the life of the Church. The exemplary convention of the Apostles “in one place,”*7 the movement of the Holy Spirit among them and the distribution of fiery, uncreated tongues of grace and miraculous speech are, needless to say, the ultimate inspiration for any Church council. The iconography here clearly provides the paradigm for the Ecumenical Council, emphasizing sobornost’ and the presence of the Holy Spirit, traditionally symbolized in the empty space between the chief apostles Sts Peter and Paul. This way, the hierarchs in the register below are seen as successors to the Apostles above, and the Gospel books they hold are the natural unfolding of the concise scrolls—“the word of life”*8—traditioned to them by the Apostles. The inclusion and centrality of the icon of the Pentecost emphasizes the activity of God in the midst of the convened, in synergy with the human dimension of the event. It was not merely through debate of a worldly fashion that the decisions of the Fathers of the Councils were reached. But rather, “it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…”, as the Apostles formulated it at the “Proto-Council” recorded in the book of Acts.*9

The central, vertical axis of the icon contains multiple representations of Christ the Logos. Theology affirms that one and the same Christ is to be found in various positions in the universe, and in various degrees of revelation, corresponding to the level of the environment which receives him. He is the historical, circumscribed Jesus of the Gospels and simultaneously the uncircumscribable God, One of the Trinity. He is the “hidden Christ” scattered as logoi throughout creation,*10 and a “portion” of the divine in the makeup of the human being.*11 He is also quite simply the “Truth of things.”*12 He is one and the same Logos in different modes of existence.

In the lower register of the icon, the emperor Constantine is shown as the earthly representative of Christ, in line with the Byzantine conception of this. Historians bring out the problems associated with the political and all-too-human aspects of many of the Church Councils.*13 One such difficulty is the presidency of Constantine at Nicaea I. He was not yet baptized at the time, yet occupies the central position in the iconography of the Council. This also gives the impression of secular authority dictating Church affairs. Nevertheless, he is traditionally depicted and has a halo. It must be conceded that without the encouragement of the emperors, councils bringing together representatives from the entire oecumene would not have been possible. Perhaps this key role of Constantine, his fervor for the Christian faith, encapsulate the particular type of holiness unique to Christian emperors—notwithstanding the moral limitations of the exercise of worldly power. An icon of a saint always presents the holy, spiritual outcome of their life, even when events anterior to their holy end (telos) are the subject of the depiction.

Nevertheless, a more concentrated and unblemished activity of the divine Logos is to be sought on another, independent and mystical register, not on the historical or political level of Church affairs. Above the seated participants of the Council, the depiction of the Logos among the elders provides the image for this. Christ is not merely “represented” but is really present, albeit in a hidden manner. He is depicted as a Child, the Emmanuel, “God with us,” recently hidden in the cave of the Nativity and now unrecognized by the scholars of the synagogue. Neither is he yet understood fully by his parents and relatives.*14 And yet, Christ, the Wisdom of God and the seminal meaning of things is shown here “growing” and “becoming strong, filled with wisdom.”*15 Like a “shoot from the root of Jesse,”*16 he is shown tending vertically upward in the ascent toward the Father and inviting the attention of the viewer to join in with this upwards movement.

Any image of Christ as a Child is not only a testimony to the historical veracity of his Incarnation and earthly life, but can also allude to his eternal divine generation (gennesis) from the Father.*17 The Son is the person of the Holy Trinity whose function is to travel out: “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.”*18 In the present icon, the divine and incarnate Logos is shown as if inseminated in matter (as the logos spermatikos), indicated by the marbleised green color around the Mid-Pentecost. This is the environment that accepts him. He becomes the central vital element in creation become old and weary in the figures of the six aged men. In the registers above this, we see the growth and steady maturation of the Logos within his assumed humanity, into “the measure of the stature of the fulness”*19 of himself.

And so, in the next sphere above this, we already see the grown-up Christ, as the adult Logos and Bridegroom of the universal Church. This time he is shown revealed more fully, within a mandorla of the Revelation of divine Glory, and with a scroll which contains the apocalyptic words “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” The inner sphere of a mandorla represents the divine mystery, while the outer rings, with their lighter colors and many rays, represent revelation through manifold divine energies or Godly virtues. Flanking the Lord are the personifications of the two principal divine energies: Holy Sophia, the principle of Wisdom, the “beginning of the work of the Lord”*20; and Holy Agape, divine Love, “the greatest of these,” which “never ends.”*21 These are the energies of the Holy Trinity which, along with divine Will, must guide human, and certainly ecclesiastical, affairs. Wisdom lends the principle of ascetical and theological sobriety, the ability to make distinctions and decisions, “the sword”*22 of Christ. Simultaneously, Love, inspired by the Holy Spirit who “calls all to unity,”*23 unites the participants in oneness of mind and prevents fighting and the dealing out of harsh punishment to the deposed parties.

A red scroll unfurls from behind the mandorla, above the head of Christ. Two of the Major Feasts are portrayed in medallions on its tips: the Annunciation and the Resurrection. The Ecumenical Councils dealt with questions of Christology: who was the incarnate and risen Lord? The Incarnation and the Resurrection from the dead are two of the great mysteries unique to Christianity. The eight-pointed stars on the red scroll represent a kind of pulsation or influence of the fulfilled work of Christ in the present age. However, the principle of Incarnation in human life still awaits full realization. The doors of the Resurrection have been opened by Christ, yet “creation [still] waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”*24 The acts accomplished by Christ, reflected in the Great Feasts of the Church calendar, are therefore like twelve stars whose light illumines the life of the faithful and awaits their full acceptance.

The final, highest register of the icon contains an image of the Holy Mandylion flanked by a Cherub and a Seraph and resting on an angelic Throne. These last are the three highest ranks of the celestial hierarchy. The Throne (Ophanim) is shown with eight wings, indicating the full stability of the throne of God and the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the level represented here. Traditionally, the icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hand is a depiction of only the head of Christ. In the given composition, it serves to underline his role as the Head of his Body: the Christian race in the future Heavenly Kingdom. The Logos is shown here as grey-haired, drawing on images of the Elder of Days and the Lord Sabaoth in Scripture.*25 In this third, ultimate position of Christ, he takes on the features of the “Father of the Age to Come”*26 delegated to him by God the Father. His face also becomes the source for the adoration of the entire Holy Trinity, for the Seraphim in the book of Isaiah were singing the trinitarian, Thrice Holy Hymn to the Lord Sabaoth.*27 This upper register of the icon therefore indicates the ultimate Christian goal—the veneration of the Trinity—to which Christology leads.

This icon of the Ecumenical Council is thus also a depiction of the three “ages” of the Logos—the youthful, the mature and the paternal—three progressively fuller modes of his presence among his people. These three ages of the Logos are in direct relationship to the stages of the maturation of his Body, the assembly of the faithful, the Church. Is the latter governed by earthly, “militant,” and political considerations, or by the desire of the mystical vision of God and closeness to his heavenly and uncreated Kingdom and Paternity?

Besides the emphasis on Christology, the central axis in this icon also teaches that the Logos is the true vertical dimension in the human being. The Logos becoming “incarnate” and “made man” is that part of the human being which is never fallen, even when temporal human circumstances are far from holy. The Councils’ affirmation of the consubstantiality of the Logos to the Father represents the firm belief in the perfection available to man in the fully divine Logos given to the human as logos and logoi.

The remaining element of the icon are the two groups of Archangels flanking the image. The presence of the angelic hosts, important in liturgy and ubiquitous in hymnography, draws attention to the noetic dimension of theology. Noesis is not a biological rationality but the exercise of the nous, the spiritual mind which contemplates divine realities and the truth of things. Angels are bodiless “minds” and they remind humans of the need to cultivate this dimension. This central band of the Nicaea icon can be seen as an element drawn from the iconography of the Synaxis of the Archangels. This icon also contains an image of Christ Emmanuel, held high by the assemby of Archangels. This points to their eternal noetic focus on the Logos and their contemplation of the Divinity on the distinct spiritual plane of angelic life. In the Nicaea icon, the Archangels are therefore shown “surrounding” and “guiding and guarding” the minds of humans, that they may “attain to the unity of the faith and to the knowledge of the unapproachable Glory” in the Son of God.*28

The icon of Nicaea is not simply an illustration of an Ecumenical Council. It is an expanded view on the subject, the purpose of which is to underline the spiritual tuning necessary for the good progress of a Church Council. The key lies in the contemplation of the heavenly goals of Church life, rather than an excessive fixation on the historical problems. Such is the suggestion of Christ the Logos himself, portrayed in the icon multiple times: “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be yours as well.”*29

Text by Vladislav and Nikita Andrejev

Notes ________________________

*1 Hebrews 13.8.
*2 For precedents, see for example fresco cycles of the churches of Christ Pantocrator at Decani Monastery, and the Nativity of the Theotokos, Ferapontovo.
*3 Luke 2.41–52.
*4 “He is before all things and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 3.16–17.
*5 “He must increase, but I must decrease,” spoken by St John the Forerunner. John 3.30.
*6 Luke 4.16–21.
*7 Acts 2.1.
*8 “…which we looked upon and touched with our hands…” 1 John 1.1.
*9 Acts 15.28.
*10 “The one Logos is many logoi and the many logoi are One.” St Maximus the Confessor. Ambiguum 7, 1081B.
*11 St Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 14.7.
*12 Troparion to St Nicholas the Wonderworker.
*13 Even Orthodox bishops involved in the Councils occasionally bent the rules of due order and courtesy when it came to the proceedings. St Nicholas physically struck Arius on the cheek at Nicaea I; St Cyril of Alexandria opened the Council of Ephesus without waiting for the arrival of his opponents, etc.
*14 “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? Luke 2.49. “Who are my mother and my brothers? Whoever does the will of God…” [Mark 3.33–35].
*15 Luke 2.40.
*16 “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord…” Isaiah 11.1ff.
*17 This is perhaps most strikingly shown in certain icons of the Theotokos Oranta (“the Sign”), where the round, blue mandorla behind the Infant simultaneously represents Mary’s womb and the divine dimension in which the Son is born of the Father, whence he comes.
*18 John 3.13. These two movements or generations of Christ, the eternal and the earthly, explain why in many early Christian depictions he is portrayed without a beard, precisely as a Son whose hypostasis has to do with birth and growth.
*19 Ephesians 4.13.
*20 Proverbs 8.22.
*21 I Cor 13.8;13
*22 “I have not come to bring peace but a sword…” (Matthew 10.34).
*23 Kontakion of Pentecost.
*24 Romans 8.19.
*25 Daniel 7.9–10; Isaiah 6.1–3.
*26 Isaiah 9.6.
*27 According to St John of Damascus, the Lord Sabaoth represents all three persons of the Trinity. Cf. Epistle to Jordanus concerning the Thrice Holy Hymn.
*28 Prayer of the Hours; Ephesians 4.13.
*29 Matthew 6.33.