In a sense all spiritual realities need to be expressed in symbols, and human beings need symbols to come in contact with spiritual realities. The search for beauty is in fact, the search for the Hidden God who reveals himself to us through symbols in creation, words, and most perfectly, Jesus Christ.
For the Eastern Churches icons are not only forms of art; they are prayer and contemplation transformed into art. An icon manifests to us Mystery-Presence – the God who breaks through all symbols. In Jesus, perfect Icon of the Father, human beings are transformed into living icons of God. It is this divinization of humanity which underlies the significance of an icon.
The Rabbula Gospel Book Icons
In the Syriac-Maronite Church a magnificent legacy of icons is found in the Rabbula Gospel Book, written and illustrated in 586 A.D. at the monastery of Saint John, in northern Syria. By 1361 this ancient manuscript passed to Kanubin, Lebanon, and in early 1500 the manuscript was gifted by the Maronite Patriarch to the Pope, and was placed in the Medici Library in Florence, Italy.
Rabbula is the scribe of the text; the icons were painted by different monks. The Gospel Book consists of 14 pages (13.5″ x 10.5″) and 28 icons, most of which are miniatures of the scripture references.
The Rabbula Gospel Book is divided into 3 parts:
- Icons of the election of Apostle Matthias and on the reverse side Mary, Mother of the Light.
- Gospel Harmonizing Tables arranged inside of Syriac arches and Greek columns. Outside the arches the artists painted in the upper corners 2 Old Testament figures; in the middle events from the life of Christ, and in the lower corners flowers, leaves or animals. Fruit baskets, floral arrangements and plush gardens convey the sense of paradise.
- Icons of the death-resurrection, ascension, Pentecost.
Characteristic of Eastern art is the use of animals and birds:
- Dove a well-known symbol of the Spirit.
- Rooster refers to the awakening of the human heart to Christ.
- peacock conveys themes of renewal and incorruptibility.
View the following examples of Maronite Art: