Deesis

Deesis (Greek for a prayer, request) is a representation of a pleading prayer brought to Christ by Mary and John the Baptist. The Deesis icon occupies a central place in the iconostasis, above the royal gate and the icon of the Mandylion or the Last Supper. Christ is shown here as the Sovereign Lord, Saviour and Judge at the Last Judgment – he rests on the throne (which is suggested by a fabric supported by angels) with his right hand raised in a gesture of blessing, and his left hand supports the Gospel book resting on his knees. On the open pages is an inscription in Cyrillic script: ‘Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until everything has happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away ‘(Lk 21: 32–33). Christ rests his feet, with visible nail marks, on the seraphs wings. The Deesis composition indicates eschatological themes: John the Baptist – the last prophet of the Old Testament, and Mary – the first human of the New Testament, gathered before the throne. They symbolise the fullness and unity in Christ and pray to him for the whole world; they plead for the believers before the Judge, while adoring the Saviour.

In the 19th century, the icon from Oszczów was significantly repainted – especially the part of the figure of Christ or the arrangement of the text in the book. During the conservation works, an older painting layer was discovered and exposed. It shows some similarities to the Deesis from the so-called Lubaczów iconostasis, now located in the Greek Catholic cathedral in Przemyśl.