Icon with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple

"Icon with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple", is an Icon, a piece of art found in
possibly created in between year 1400-1500. The media used to make the Icon is a 44.5 x
42.2 cm wood, painted with gold ground, resulting in a splendid panel painting, picturing the
Virgin - the woman on the right, known worldwide as Mary Magdalene - presenting her
Angel-given Christ Child to Simeon - a Saint, pictured as the man on the right - for the ritual
of purification, as indicated by a Greek inscription that reads "The Purification". According to
the Icon, Joseph - the husband of Mary Magdalene, now widely regarded as a Saint, pictured
above as the man on the right - and the prophet know as Anna - the woman on the left recognised the divinity of the child, as indicated in the scroll on Anna's left hand which
translates from Greek as "This Child created Heaven and Earth."
Icons painted on wood were one of the most important objects in the era of Byzantine
art. It is a sign of religious devotion in Byzantium, especially in its last centuries. The
principles of perspective, proportion and 3-dimensional aspect were at the least important in
the making of piece of art in the Byzantine era. It is very clear in the Icon that between the
picture of the men and the building bears no sense of perspective, and the building feels very

flat. This is because there is a much more important aspect that the people in Byzantium try
to achieve in their art.
This aspect that the people in Byzantine era took utmost care of in the making of a
piece of art is Symbolism. A piece of art must bear meanings, giving descriptions with
minimal use of words. In the case of Byzantine art, a piece of art must at least symbols a
particular event or occurrence, all as written in the Holy Bible. The "Icon with the
Presentation of Christ in the Temple" clearly shows an event in the Old Testament, which is
the ritual of purification of baby Jesus Christ. And it is all very clear how the baby pictured in
the icon symbolises baby Jesus. Though with very little words used the inscriptions in the
scroll, as mentioned before, directly identifies baby Jesus Christ.
In the Byzantine era, Christianity was at its peak of growth in Byzantium. Religion
was very important that it sits above everything else and nothing should go above religion.
Religion was the centre of everything, including the law. People were more concerned about
Christianity than anything else. All of that result to the focus of Christian aspects even in
making a piece of art. A huge number of icons alike were found in the region where
Byzantium used to stand, and upon inspection all of them pictures an event or symbols in the
Holy Bible.
The picture of Jesus Christ is usually made without the correct aspect of human
proportions. This is because by making the picture of Jesus Christ proportional makes Him
look very un-Godly, and by making the picture of Jesus not proportional they can achieve a
sense that Jesus Christ is not a human, and they can assume that Jesus Christ is the son of
God. In the picture of the "Icon with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple", the picture of
the baby on Simeon's hands - which is a picture of baby Jesus - is not very clearly painted
especially in the face. Although it is unclear whether it is a result of the seemingly disfiguring
crack of the paint or it is an intentional act of making the face of baby Jesus disfigured, it can
be assumed that the proportion of baby Jesus is deliberately altered and distorted to show that
the baby is a divine being, a Godly creature.
Important characters in Byzantium art are usually given a ball of light, a kind of Halo,
around their head. In the "Icon with the Presentation of Christ in the Temple" each character
has a ball of light around their head. Reasons for this are not very clear, but each character
has a role in the Icon, and it perfectly describes the meaning of the Icon.
Byzantine art is an art with unimaginable amount of influences from Christianity. It is
an art where Religion speaks the most that all other aspects are largely unimportant. While
the Icon came from the era of Late Byzantium, the "Icon with the Presentation of Christ in
the Temple" can represent the overall style of the art in Byzantium. Every aspects which
exists in the Byzantine art can be observed in the Icon.