The Christian icon tradition often uses symbolic elements in the portrayal of Christ and other Christian people. One of these is a frequent posture of Jesus (or other saints) looking directly at you with a serious expression, mouth closed and eyes penetrating.
There are several symbolic aspects to such icons, often known as Christ the Pantokrator (Almighty). I have long been intrigued by the posture of his hands. Usually Christ will be presented as holding a book in his left hand, sometimes the Bible or perhaps the book of life. In the example given here, the book is closed, so we assume it is the Word of God (Scripture). His right hand, though, will have a certain posture that conveys meaning. This example has him touching his thumb to his third finger, making a loop. The first two fingers are slightly crossed. The little finger is raised. (See https://slaveoftheimmaculate.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/the-pantokrator/).
I have found many explanations for this. Some say it is simply the sign of a teacher. Others say it is the sign of blessing. But some believe this is a hand signal to spell letters. One interpretation is that the fingers make four Greek letters, Iota Sigma Chi Sigma (IC XC), the abbreviation in Greek of “Jesus Christ.” Maybe.
I asked my friend at St. Photios Seminary (https://www.spots.school/), Father Gregory, about this when I visited a couple years ago. His interpretation makes much more sense to me. He said the fingers form the Chi-Rho, XP (“rho” looks like our upper case “P”), a very ancient, meaningful, and common symbol for “Christ,” the anointed Son of God. In Greek, the word Christ is ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ and what looks like XP (in English) are the first two letters of the word.
I trust Gregory and believe this is the most ancient explanation. (Note: in early Greek uncial script, the letter sigma is written as C, with the more familiar Σ being a later form.) Beginning with the fourth century and the Constantinian Christian empire, there are many examples of the Chi-Rho on coinage, inscriptions, and other art.
For those who know this, such an icon presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Peter’s words, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” The iconic Christ, in a subtle way, says, “Yes, I am.” The power of symbol humbles and thrills us.
Mark S. Krause
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