Fifty days after Easter
Hand-painted icon of Pentecost
«Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit» (Acts 2:3-4). The Pentecost icon is the icon of the birth of the Church.
How to read the icon
- The apostles seated in a semicircle, at peace, each with a book or a scroll: they are the teachers of the Church. Among them Saint Paul and the evangelists Luke and Mark.
- At the top centre, an empty place or the Mother of God: the place of Christ, invisible yet present.
- From the segment of heaven rays and tongues of fire descend on each of them.
- Below, beneath a dark arch, an old crowned king holding a cloth with twelve scrolls: he is Cosmos, the world imprisoned in darkness receiving the apostles' proclamation.
A confirmation gift
Confirmation is the Christian's personal Pentecost: this is why the Pentecost icon is the most meaningful gift for a confirmand, for a godparent, for a catechism group, for a parish. In the Byzantine tradition Pentecost Sunday is also the feast of the Holy Trinity. Like every icon by Concetta Basile, it is fully gilded with 23¾ karat gold, with inscriptions in Greek or Latin, and is commissioned with an offering proportionate to the time and materials of the work.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the king at the bottom of the Pentecost icon?
He is Cosmos, the personification of the world: old because marked by sin, crowned because ruled by the prince of this world, enclosed in darkness. The twelve scrolls he holds are the preaching of the twelve apostles reaching him.
How do I commission a feast icon?
In the configurator choose «Liturgical feast» and enter the name of the feast; the number of figures can be changed. In the conversation with Concetta Basile you agree together on composition, size and inscriptions.