Year: 537 AD
Style: Iconography
Location: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
Known belovedly for centuries as Christ Pantocrator (“ruler of all”), the gorgeous and warm color palette, This Jesus painting is currently in Instanbul. The Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) Cathedral was at the heart of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Justinian considered it the crown jewel of Constantinople. It housed antiquity’s largest enclosed space and a vast dome. The interior was decorated in intricately carved marble and beautiful mosaics, of which Christ Pantocrator is one. Typically translated as “almighty” or “all-powerful,” the word Pantocrator literally means “ruler of all.”