9 Christ Enthroned

early 20th century, possibly around 1917
 Size: 17 1⁄2” x 14”

Isaiah 6:1-4 
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim; each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

This icon depicts Christ enthroned as it is told by the Prophet Isaiah. Christ sits on His throne and with his right hand gives a blessing. The fingers form the letters IC XC, the initial Greek letters in Jesus Christ.
In the West, the three fingers raised can represent the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and two fingers joined together represent the two natures of Christ, the Human and Divine. In his left hand he holds the Holy Scripture. We can see the angels depicted in red and blue surrounding the throne. In Isaiah they are the seraphim. In this icon since they are red and blue angels it may be depicting both the seraphim (red) and the cherubim (blue). These are the two highest choirs of angels. In the background we can see the smoke that fills the house as mentioned in Isaiah. In the four corners of the icon are depicted the four living beasts from Ezekiel which represents the four Gospels. In the top left the man represents Matthew, the top right has an Eagle which represents John, the bottom left has a lion which represents Mark, and the bottom right has an ox which represents Luke.