The Icon: Prayer Without Words
Facial features were also altered to portray a feeling of divinity. The eyes and ears in iconic art are disproportionately large, because a spiritual person spends more time listening to God’s Word and seeking to do God’s will. Conversely, the mouth, which can often be a source of empty or harmful words, is small. The nose, which is seen as sensual, is also small. The figures often have large heads, indicating that these individuals are devoted to contemplation and prayer.
Saints and martyrs are sometimes portrayed with peaceful, smiling faces, showing that their inner peace was undisturbed even by the hardships and suffering they endured. Evil characters are always portrayed in profile, because it is undesirable to make eye contact with such persons.
Deep shading and three-dimensional perspectives aren’t used in icons, so everything appears “flatter” than real life. Flatness also allows the artist to show the spiritual importance of individuals by size and position rather than by perspective.
The colors in an icon symbolize various aspects of humanity or divinity. Gold represents the radiance of heaven and symbolizes divine light. In most icons, like that of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, the background is gold. Jesus is usually shown wearing a reddish-brown garment, which represents his humanity, and a blue garment, which represents his divinity.
Red is one of the most frequently used colors in icons. It is the color of passion, love, and life-giving energy; for this reason, red became the symbol of the resurrection—the victory of life over death. At the same time, it is the color of blood and torment. Christ many times wears a red tunic to signify his blood’s being shed for us all. Red is also used in the clothing of martyrs, whose blood nurtures the Church.
In the icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Mary is dressed in blue to show her divinity. Beneath the blue, her reddish-brown garment shows her humanity. Jesus wears a combination of gold—the radiance of heaven—and a green outer garment with the resurrectional red sash. In icons, green is always used to indicate prophets and martyrs.
The color white in icons is the uncreated essence of God, the divine world of purity and innocence. White is used only for icons of the resurrection and transfiguration of Christ, where Jesus’ divinity is fully revealed.