Christ Pantocrator Mosaic -- Byzantine Gold Mosaic Icon HD Wallpaper

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This magnificent HD wallpaper depicts Christ Pantocrator in the grand tradition of Byzantine mosaic art -- individual gold and colored tessera (small mosaic tiles) visible in the image, each one a tiny fragment of a centuries-old sacred language of light. The mosaic tradition of depicting Christ Pantocrator reached its highest expression in the great imperial churches of the Byzantine world: the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, the Cathedral at Cefalù, the Chora Church in Istanbul. In each, the enormous face of Christ Pantocrator looks down from the apse or dome with that combination of infinite love and infinite authority that is uniquely Byzantine in its spiritual power. The mosaic technique itself is deeply symbolic. Each tessera -- whether plain stone, glass, or gold-backed glass (smalti) -- contributes its small piece of color to the whole image. From a distance, you see the face of Christ clearly. Up close, you see only the individual pieces. This is a parable of faith itself: the closer you are to a problem, the harder it is to see the whole picture that God is composing. The gold tessera in Byzantine mosaics were angled slightly to catch light from multiple directions, so the face of Christ seemed to glow and shift as the viewer moved -- a deliberate theological effect, suggesting the living presence of the divine. These ancient mosaics, some dating from the 5th century CE, have survived earthquakes, invasions, iconoclasm, and the passage of sixteen centuries. Christ Pantocrator endures. This HD wallpaper brings that ancient presence to your screen. Free download.

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