Proto-Iconographer
In this traditional Orthodox icon we see Saint Luke, the first iconographer and author of the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, making his own icon of the most Holy Theotokos. Above him, a large red veil marks the scene as a mystical event, the place where heavenly energies interact with earthly, material experience. By its very nature, a mystical event overwhelms our human understanding—we apprehend with our human faculties something that we cannot comprehend with our rational minds. Behind Saint Luke, an angel called the Angel of the Countenance of God blesses and guides the work. In front of Luke stands the Theotokos, within whom the Logos Spermatikos can be seen; both figures raise their hands, one in blessing and the other in prayer.
Luke was a Syrian physician from Antioch who became a disciple of Saint Paul. Luke’s gospel is not an eyewitness account of Christ, but with a physician’s precision, his writings give great detail about Christ’s life, making his gospel one of the most visual. In fact, Tradition calls Luke the Proto-Iconographer because he is said to have painted the first icon, an image of the Theotokos holding the Christ child, also called Hodigitria, which is the small icon in Saint Luke’s hand. (The viewer can see that Luke is not copying down the image of Mary who stands before him. She is a guiding presence rather than a model.) There are four extant icons attributed to Saint Luke; the most famous is the Virgin of Vladimir, housed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
The eight-pointed star etched in the halo of the angel, along with the angel’s name in red letters, tells us this is an “uncreated” angel. The eight-pointed star represents the “Eighth Day,” a concept from Holy Scripture that references life after the end of the created world. An eight-pointed star in a halo means the bearer of the halo is uncreated because the eighth day has not yet happened. The Uncreated Angel—in other words, God’s presence—is guiding the hand of Saint Luke. For an iconographer, this icon of Saint Luke visually expresses the action of God working through the hand and person whose ego is absent so that all glory belongs to God.