Saint Cyril of Alexandria

This panel is a virtuosic display of the icon painter’s craft. Delicate layers of green, brown, pink, and white build up the attentive face of Saint Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 CE). Lines of brown and olive green delineate the contours of his cheeks which are hollow from fasting. Dashes of white frame alert eyes which hint at an interior life of stillness and prayer. The crossed white omophorion falling over his shoulders indicates his status as a bishop, while the striped pink and green headdress—recalling those worn by Egyptian monks—is a distinctive trait of the saint’s iconography.