Saint Luke - The First Iconographer

Saint Luke (Commemorated on October 18) was an apostle, evangelist, physician, and artist. St. Luke (whose emblem is the calf, the third symbolical beast mentioned by Ezekiel (1:10), which is a symbol of Christ's sacrificial and priestly office, as Saint Irenaeus says) is one of the four evangelists along with: St. Matthew (the man), St. Mark (the lion) and St. John (the eagle). He wrote the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and became the first iconographer. He was a disciple of St. Paul who called him the “glorious physician”.
The icon bellows show how St Luke was painting the icons. The holy tradition tells us that Archangel Gabriel gave to St Luke the boards on which the icons were painted. The Holy Virgin held and blessed these icons when she said, “The grace of the One born of me be with them through me.” Thus, the sacred art of iconography by which our Orthodox Churches are adorned had its beginning with St. Luke. St. Luke's interest in iconography, again, according to Holy Tradition was aroused by the miraculous not-made-by-hand image of Christ.

Here is one of the holy icons painted by the Holy Apostle and Evagelist Luke, that can found in Cyprus:

(Panagia of Kykkos Holy Icon)

The Virgin of compassion-Panayia Eleousa-the icon of Kykkos, was taken to Egypt by Saint Luke after the death of the Virgin. He had painted it just seven years after the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ.

A great children’s book about this icon is: “The Holy Virgin Comes to Cyprus”, by Chrissi Hart: