CHRIST PENTOCRATOR

The word Pantocrator is Greek, meaning "Ruler of All," or “Almighty”. The image expresses the central reality of the Christian faith; the Divine Majesty of the creator and ruler of all the world, made flesh and therefore visible to us in the person of Christ Jesus our redeemer. The oldest known icon of Christ Pantocrator was written in the sixth century and preserved in the remote monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai desert. The location enabled the image to survive the destruction of most icons during the iconoclastic era in Byzantine history, (726 to 815 AD.)
On the inside of the central dome in Orthodox churches is frequently found an immense mosaic or painting of Christ Pantocrator. The Pantocrator image typically found in church domes is very stern and formidable, expressing in full the concept of "Ruler of All." Smaller, personal icons, while retaining the same majesty, more often represent a gentle and compassionate Lord.

Theology and Symbolism
In this image of Christ Pantocrator, Jesus is presented in a half length pose, looking directly at the viewer, with his left hand holding the Sacred Word and his right hand raised in blessing. He is dressed in the traditional garb of tunic and cloak. His cloak, called in Greek a "himation" is dark blue (sometimes green) signifying the mystery of His humanity . His tunic is a bright crimson red to signify His divinity and also His human blood shed for us all. The garments of the Messiah in Isaiah 63:1-4 were red, as was the soldier’s cloak put on Jesus’ shoulders during his passion (Matthew 27:28.) Thus Jesus Christ is by nature divine, yet is fully clothed in humanity. The blue cloak is distinct from the red, as Christ’s humanity and divinity are distinct and not “inter-mingled”. Yet the blue cloak is also girded firmly around His waist, showing the Son of God to have taken on human nature forevermore; Christ’s humanity has not been casually cast off after 33 short years on earth.
To any Catholic or Orthodox Christian, Jesus’ right hand is unmistakably shown as being raised to give a blessing. The arrangement of the hand, repeated by clergy when blessing others, is also rich in meaning. The fingers spell out the four-letter Christogram “IC XC”, as it is by the name of Jesus that we are saved and receive blessings. “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;” (Phil 2:10). Not only that, but the three fingers of Christ – as well as spelling out “I” and “X” confessed the Tri-unity of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The touching finger and thumb of Jesus not only spell out “C”, but attest to the Incarnation: to the joining of divine and human natures found in the body of Jesus Christ.
The Bible he holds in his left hand is open to display a passage from the Gospel of St John. In those instances, the icon may also be called “Christ the Teacher”, for obvious reasons.
Because the icon is itself the source of light, it does not reflect outward light such as one sees in the eyes of portrat paintings. Because the Icon is the source of light, the figure does not cast shadows on any other object in the icon. The gold halo around the Head of Christ is not coming from above but eminating from the figure itself and moving out even to the outer border of time and space.
Christ’s halo is not the same as the halos shown around other saints. Inside of Christ’s halo is the Cross – the Cross of Salvation – although only three arms are visible: the three arms make up a Holy Trinity. Upon the three arms are the Greek letters ώ Ό Ν (omega, omicron, nu) which literally means “I AM”. This is a reference to Christ’s divinity, as “I AM” was the name God revealed to Moses (Ex. 3:14). Jesus attributed this title to Himself when He said: “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58), attesting to His divinity and His eternal existence (two ways of saying the same thing). These revelations of Jesus Christ’s nature and the Holy Trinity are preserved in Christ’s Halo.
About Christ’s Head are the letters “IC” and “XC”, a widely used four letter abbreviation of the Greek for Jesus (IHCOYC) Christ (XPICTOC).
The face of Jesus follows ancient traditions. The eyes are disproportionally large to symbolize that they are windows to the soul. They look directly into the soul of the viewer. The forehead, identified as the seat of wisdom, is high and convex. The nose is long and slender, contributing a look of nobility. The mouth is small and closed admonishing viewers to contemplate God quietly. The hair is curled and flowing, recalling the endless flow of time. The neck and body are powerful reminders of His strength and majesty. The right side of the face is not identical to the left. This depicts Christ’s duel nature. In many Icons of Christ Pentocrator two strands of hair lies on his forhead contributing again to this theme of his two natures.