WAY AND TRUTH AND LIFE

The name of the painting depicting the Crucifixion: "... AND THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND LIFE ...". The title is the phrase of the Lord from the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, verse 6: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” There are a number of hidden signs in the painting, reflecting a number of aspects of the Christian Faith. Two fingers of the hand of the right hand are folded together, symbolizing His two hypostases: divine and human. The ends of the ropes that bind the hands of the Messiah form the Greek letters "W" (omega) and "N" (nu), and the ring that secures the cloth with the inscription in Greek "INRI" (meaning "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews") is "O" (omicron). These letters are traditionally depicted on icons in a nimbus of Christ (in Orthodoxy, namely, in the same order, from left to right: “WON”), which in ancient Greek means the name of God “Jesus” (revealed to Moses (Ex. 3:14) , indicating that God exists by virtue of the very fact of His existence, regardless from no one or from anything, neither by reason of His being, nor by His being; that is, that He has life in Himself, and also of the Divine being as a truly existing, eternal and unchanging reality). The image of historical Jerusalem in the background of the Crucifixion (according to the Gospel, the Crucifixion took place outside the walls of the city) symbolizes Heavenly Jerusalem (Paradise), where everyone can get thanks to the Savior’s Calvary Sacrifice, and is traditionally indicated, including on Orthodox crosses, as the designation “This Sacrifice for all earth" (John Chrysostom). At the same time, the walls of Jerusalem are depicted in accordance with the location of the oblique crossbar of Orthodox eight-pointed crosses (in the picture from left to right: from top to bottom), indicating both the possibility, through His Redemptive Feat, of people falling into the Heavenly chamber, and through their sins, fall into fiery gehena. Moreover, most of the city is located on the right side of the cross from Jesus (on the left in the picture), as a symbol of hope for the righteous life of people. And to the left of the Savior below (to the right in the picture towards the lower end of the mental oblique crossbar) depicts a tree - aspen, as a sign of human sinfulness (according to the most common version, Judas Iscariot took his own life on an aspen).