How is this to be expressed in a picture? How is theology to be expressed with colours? Upon looking at an icon you often instantly notice the following features:

The haughty and serene expression of the face,

The "exaggerated" shapes of the faces and bodies: protracted nose, small mouth, large absent-looking eyes, large head, tall and slim bodies, elongated hands and feet.

The reverse perspective or the perspective of weather

Everything is on the surface, there is no depth.

The portraits should depict the appearance of the portrayed person, as the artist perceives him. Therefore it won't do to paint from life, only the originals will do. It is not essential to reproduce the human shapes in a naturalistic or realistic way, yet it is quite clear that the representations are people of flesh and blood. But it is not as human beings that they are primarily depicted, but as divine, holy characters, as recipients of a promise of divine participation. There is no light in the picture in the sense we would normally perceive it; there is neither a sun nor any other source of light and therefore no shadows (other than that necessary to accentuate the hangs and folders of the clothes). Everything is pervaded by divine light - from within - this shadowless existence, where we see face to face in absolute transparency. The object of the icon is not to live up to Jesus or the Saints, but the individual's relation with Christ and God and thus inspire and edify the life of the beholder/praying man and prayer, to elevate him to a higher plane.

Some icons may even be perceived as ugly and repelling and you may yet feel drawn to them because they - not least through their eyes - express an inner beauty which is beyond ordinary human measures, something that could only come from the sphere of the superhuman. They display the beholder beyond him, while at the same time the portrayed sometimes seems to come out of the picture and appear in real life. This is enhanced by the fact that Christ or the face of the Saint goes beyond the painted or carved frame of the icon. The icon expresses the present - and in a sense the beholder takes part in what is happening.

The reverse perspective is evident in many icons in which events have been reproduced in the exterior environment. The landscape or the room and their components or interiors do not disappear in the background of the picture where they are diminished, on the contrary, the items in the background (trees, mountains, buildings, furniture) grow larger than those in the foreground. This is a means of trying to say that the action in the picture takes place right before the eyes of the beholder.
is focused before him and is completed in that the beholder completes the icon - a relation is established between the portrayed and the beholder. The spiritual aspect, the spiritual sphere that becomes visible, transforms our way of seeing and thinking; our reality, i.e. what we apprehend as the foreground in the picture in which we are present, is part of the spiritual reality. We enter the picture and into the open landscape; the icon functions as a window, or a door, into an existence separated from room categories. The human characters are often leaning forward, a posture that expresses humility. This humility is the fruit of a constant relation with God in prayer.

Buildings, trees, mountains etc do not look very naturalistic, they too have been transformed. They are not identifiable - you see what they are, but not where they are placed or stand. But one aspect of the event is expressed; what is happening is happening right now, in the beholder's own environment. Occasionally the perspective of weather is used to emphasise the most important character in the picture. Large size emphasises great significance and spiritual maturity.

The clothes are often very beautiful: long bodices and cloaks at ankle-length (but no jewellers). On close-ups the idea to let the external lead into the inside is particularly obvious. The bodice is like a compress, which is opened to the heart (to remind you of the importance of the constant prayer of the heart). The colours of the clothes and other items are not chosen arbitrarily, they all have their symbolic meaning. But naturally there are variations with regard to the choice of colours.

Sky-blue = peace, a pure conscience

White = virginity, belief

Gold = power, honour, glory, divinity, light

Green = hope, immortality

Silver = purity, chastity

Red = martyrdom, blood

Grey = suffering

Purple = repentance, penance

Blue = fidelity, devotion

Yellow = hatred, disunion

Black = grief, suffering, death

Brown = humanity, earthiness

Naturally the colours are not always used in their pure form, but are blended into different shades and nuances. Different schools in icon painting have their own tradition and their own colour mixtures. But it is essential to keep in mind the meaning of each colour to rightly understand the message of the icon at hand.The icon is a means to express what theology says about the Godhead. Theology and iconography are ways of expressing what man can't express. No words, colours or lines could describe the kingdom of God in a satisfactory way. herefore it is essential for believers to find a means to mediate the limited knowledge of God that humanity owns.

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