“Christ is Risen!” is the Gospel proclamation.  All four of the Gospels are silent on the matter of Christ’s actual Anastasis (Resurrection).  Nowhere in Scripture is there a factual account of the actual moment of this earthshaking event.  True to its tradition of depicting only what humans have seen and experienced, true Orthodox Byzantine iconography is faithful to the written Gospel and thus never attempts to depict the actual event.  Rather, it depicts and records for posterity what occurred before and after the Anastasis.

Consequently, this icon of the Anastasis is properly titled the “Descent into Hades.”  The other traditional icon of the Anastasis is that of the “Myrrhbearing Women.”  This icon though of the “Descent into Hades” shows Christ as the “Lifegiver” that He truly is.  Christ is seen after having ripped the gates of Hades off of their ‘hinges’ and trampling them as a symbol of the fact that He broke down the ‘gates’ of Hades and liberated all those who were held captive to death by Satan.  As He does so, Christ is seen taking Adam and Eve by their hands and raising them from the grave and back to life.  (Note the imploring look and outstretched hand of Adam as he looks to Christ for redemption.)  In raising our ancestors who represent mankind’s fall into degradation, Jesus acts out His role as the “new Adam” who reversed the errors of the “old Adam.”  This is why the Theotokos is likewise often called the “new Eve”, because just as the original Eve fostered Adam’s rebellion against His Creator, the Virgin Mary through her acceptance of God’s will fostered the reunification of God and man in the person of Jesus.  This message is even further reinforced by the old-looking figure with bound hands and feet who is being crushed by the trampled gates of Hades.  This figure alternatively represents either Satan or the personification of Death, who has been bound by Christ and whose power over mankind has thus been destroyed.

All this is in reflection of a hymn of the Orthros of the Anastasis:  “You have descended into the realm of Death, O Christ, and have broken the ancient bonds which held the captives; and, like Jonah from the whale, on the third day you rose from the tomb.”

The Lord’s entry into Hades and the depths of the earth, as both God and man, transforms it and all of Creation forever.  His Incarnation as a man demonstrated His incomprehensible love for mankind, which led Him to humble Himself by taking on degraded human nature and subjecting Himself to human cruelty.  The very fact that He honored us by taking on our human nature brought dignity back to our depraved humanity and to all Creation of which we are an integral part.  The black gaping abyss at the bottom of the icon depicts the realm of Hades.  Satan and death unknowingly accepted Jesus as a man, without comprehending His Divinity.  Hades could not stand before the actual presence of God Himself and its power was thus destroyed forever.  Jesus is shown with a radiant halo.  His garments are no longer those in which He was seen on earth, but are brilliant and illumine the abject darkness of Hades.  He fills the darkness with the light of His divine Presence.  He stands upon the broken gates of Hades as a conqueror and the gates are formed into a cross to remind the onlooker that it is through the power of His Crucifixion that Christ destroyed the power of death through his Anastasis.  The bolts, broken chain links and keys that are scattered all around the abyss are added as reminders of how thoroughly He broke the bonds of death and thereby freed those who were help captive by it.

In freeing Adam and Eve Christ freed all humanity from the curse of death, including all those who put faith in His Coming.  This is why King Solomon, King David and John the Forerunner are shown to Jesus’ right.  Representing their role as those who prepared the way for His Incarnation, they are shown gesturing in His direction.  On Jesus’ left, are shown the prophets who foretold of His Coming, including a youthful-looking Moses (closest to Jesus) who can be identified by his staff.

This icon makes the event of Jesus’ Anastasis present and alive for all of us today.  This is why so many of the hymns of Holy Week use the word ‘today,’ because the event of the Anastasis affects us today and every day of our lives.  Some icons of the Anastasis include halo-less human figures standing alongside the prophets.  This is a reminder of our participation in the event of the Anastasis in the NOW.

The deep and intricate theological meaning that is contained within this and all Orthodox icons is the reason they are often called “pictorial Gospels.”  As part of the sacred Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Christian Faith, icons possess the same authority and truth as does written Scripture.  This is also why icons follow a set formula of composition and why Anastasis icons painted even a thousand years apart do not vary greatly from one another.  Because, to Orthodox Christians, varying iconographic composition in response to aesthetic tastes or current trends would be tantamount to a translator of scripture changing the words and meaning of one of the Gospels according to his or her own whim and fancy.  This is why iconographers are sometimes compared to translators – but of the Church’s pictorial tradition.  As such, they can remain no less faithful to their pictoral prototypes than a translator of Holy Scripture must remain true to original ancient texts and manuscripts.

All of this meaning is distilled within the simple, concise and ancient troparion of the Anastasis, that is sung at all services of the Church until the Feast of the Ascension:  Christ is Risen from the dead, by death trampling upon death and to those in the tombs granting eternal life.