The symbolism of colors in the icon of The Descent of Christ into Hell
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This article examines the symbolism of colors in the icon of *The Descent of Christ into Hell*, known in Greek as *Anastasis*. Written in the form of a lecture by a practicing iconographer, it combines a theological approach with concrete pictorial experience. The author successively analyzes the theological content of the icon — Christ's victory over death and the deliverance of humanity as represented by Adam and Eve — and then the symbolic language of each color: gold and white as expressions of the uncreated divine light, the blue of the mandorla as a sign of transcendence, the black of Hell as a space destined to receive salvation, and the red and green of Eve and Adam as symbols of the carnal condition. Drawing in particular on Dionysius the Areopagite and Eugene Trubetskoy, the article shows that color in the icon is not aesthetic ornament but theophanic revelation, participating in the same doctrinal function as Scripture.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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