PAINTING: “ARCHANGEL GABRIELE”
TECHNIQUE: Acrylic paint on a gessoed wood panel (multilayered, 1.8 cm thick). Carved solid wood frame, gessoed and covered in imitation gold leaf.
TOTAL DIMENSIONS: 65 cm X 38 cm
A GUIDE TO READING THE ICON
Archangel Gabriel is the messenger of God par excellence, the one who brings the Lord’s messages to mankind. His name comes from the Greek Γαβριήλ (Gabriēl), which means “strength of God” or “strong man of God.”
He is also considered the guardian of creativity in all fields of knowledge, the one who opens the human mind to the understanding of genius and beauty.
At the top of the icon, the Greek letters Ο ΑΡΧ (on the left) and ΓΑΒΡΙΗΛ (on the right) mean “Archangel” and “Gabriel” respectively.
Following tradition, the Archangel is depicted as a young, androgynous, and winged figure, in a half-length, frontal pose. He wears a soft ribbon in his hair, a symbol of the divine messages that archangels carry to humanity.
In his left hand, he holds a transparent orb with the monogram of Christ (the Chi-Rho, formed by the superimposed letters “X” and “P”), which symbolizes the celestial sphere and the cosmos. With his right hand, he carries a staff (an usher’s rod), a sign of authority that designates the divine messenger.
The colors of his garments echo those worn by Christ: the red tunic (a symbol of the Divine) and the blue cloak (a symbol of humanity).
