A Happy Easter to all! In the iconographic tradition of Western Christianity, we are accustomed to associate images of the resurrection of Jesus with this most solemn and joyous feast of the liturgical year. This fourteenth-century fresco by Fra Angelico, in San Marco, Florence, is a classic example. Our Lord is depicted rising from his tomb, surrounded by a glorious mandorla, holding a palm-fond of peace in one hand and a banner of victory in the other. The gathered women who were the first witnesses to the resurrected Christ gaze into the tomb or at the angel who admonishes them that he is not to be found there.
To eyes accustomed to such Easter imagery, the classical ikon associated with this feast among the Eastern Orthodox will seem surprising. The version seen here is from the historic monastery of Hosios Loukas in the mountains of Greece, and forms part of a uniquely exquisite and well-preserved set of tenth-century mosaics.
It does not depict the resurrection of Jesus, but his descent among the dead, sometimes referred to as the “harrowing of hell.” The movement here is downward, the upward fluttering of Jesus’ garments suggesting a rapid descent. Here in Hades or Sheol or the realm of the dead, Jesus takes Adam by the hand to lead him and Eve and all of us from that place into new life in him. For me, the most powerful element of this icon is the broken gates of death and the broken locks and chains that lie at the feet of the Lord. These might be described as representing everything that impairs our freedom to love as Jesus loves, our freedom to share fully in the life of the Holy Trinity, which is love: the fear of death, the habits of self-centeredness, the brokenness and burdens of the past from which we do not yet feel ourselves to be free. I pray that, as Spring blossoms around us, this season of joy and hope will find all of us willing in new ways to welcome Jesus as he descends to wherever we are, and to allow him to take each of us by the hand and to lead us away from whatever binds and burdens us into the newness of life and freedom to love that he both is and offers.