Theotokos of Burning Bush 1750

This icon, Theotokos of the Burning Bush, was created by an Orthodox iconographer to express profound theological concepts. Icons like this serve as windows into the divine, reflecting the spiritual and cultural values of Orthodox Christianity. The image is based on the Old Testament story of Moses and the burning bush, but the figure of the Virgin Mary is placed within the flames, which symbolizes her role as the vessel through which God entered the world without being consumed by the divine fire. The icon visually expresses complex theological ideas about the nature of God, the role of the Virgin Mary, and the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. To truly understand an icon like this, art historians consult theological texts, liturgical sources, and historical records to understand the cultural and institutional contexts in which it was created. The meaning of art is deeply contingent on these contexts.