Christ Pantocrator

Pantocrator is Greek for ruler of all, and it names both this image and the place it belongs, high in the dome of an Orthodox church, looking down over everyone below. Christ holds a jeweled Gospel book in his left hand and lifts his right in blessing, meeting your eyes directly. Painters often gave the two halves of his face a slightly different cast, one side calm and merciful, the other sterner, the teacher and the judge in a single look. What makes the date worth saying is the date itself. This was painted in 1701, when the Bulgarian lands had lived under Ottoman rule for close to three centuries and had no Orthodox ruler of their own. The one enthroned, all-governing figure their tradition still set at the summit of every church was this one, Christ the Pantocrator, holding the book and giving the blessing exactly as painters had shown him for hundreds of years.