Archangel Gabriel (deësis) Icon

This icon is from the deësis (supplication) row of a 17th-century Russian iconostasis.

Click here for the matching icon of the Archangel Michael.

Board Styles

Our carpenters come from Grand Rapids, Michigan, which is home to the finest furniture makers and carpenters since the 19th century.

The Legacy board is our signature icon board. Our woodcraftsmen begin with hand-chosen poplar and cut it to the desired size. From there, they place oak slats across the back of the board to create a wood base that is second to none. The thicker board (1.25 inches) is like the board of a hand-painted panel icon.

The Standard board is made of durable MDF and has a wooden veneer on the back. If you desire a more affordable icon with a thinner board similar to other reproductions, consider the Standard icon.

Image Finishes

We begin with the finest 100% cotton, PH-neutral, archival museum-quality papers and canvases. Our prints are made in a controlled lab environment, using a special process which took over a decade to perfect. Finally, a series of custom sealants protect the image from fading, sun damage, and ozone by forming a barrier to outside elements.

Unlike other icon duplications, our prints have been environmentally-tested to resist degradation and fading for over 80 years, and in many cases well beyond 100. We do not laminate our icons, as lamination has unpredictable results for image stability. Our mission is to create timeless icons that will last, so you will only have to purchase them once.

Our museum-grade canvas prints have a slight texture, while the museum-grade paper prints are smooth.

In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel (Hebrew: גַּבְרִיאֵל, Modern Gavri'el Tiberian Gaḇrîʼēl, God is my strength;Arabic: جبريل, Jibrīl or جبرائيل Jibrāʾīl) is an archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans fromGod.

Gabriel is mentioned in the Bible - once in the Old Testament and once in the New. In the Old Testament, he appears to the prophet Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions (Daniel 8:15–26, 9:21–27). In theGospel of Luke, Gabriel appears to the virgin Mary and to Zechariah, foretelling the births of Jesus and John the Baptist, respectively (Luke 1:11–38).

Daniel does not explicitly identify Gabriel as an angel: he is a visionary figure whom Daniel calls "the man Gabriel". In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel is referred to as "an angel of the Lord". (Luke 1:11) But Christians of the Catholic traditions call him an archangel, following terminology developed in the Intertestamental period, especially the Book of Enoch. In the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel are considered saints.^[1]

In Islam, Gabriel (Jibra'il) is believed to have been the angel who revealed the Qur'an to the ProphetMohammed over a period of 23 years.

Christianity

New Testament

First, concerning John the Baptist, an angel appeared to his father Zacharias, a priest of the course of Abia, (Luke 1:5-7) whose "barren" wife Elisabeth was of the daughters of Aaron, while he ministered in the temple:

Luke 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.
11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.
16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.
17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.
19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.
20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
(Luke 1:10-20 KJV) (other versions: Luke 1:1-25)

After completing his week^[6] of ministry, Zacharias returned to his house (in Hebron)^[7] and his wife Elizabeth conceived. After she completed "five months" (Luke 1:21-25) of her pregnancy, Gabriel is mentioned again:

Luke 1:26 ¶ And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
(Luke 1:26-38 KJV) (other versions: Luke 1:26-38)

Gabriel only appears by name in those two passages in Luke. In the first passage the angel identified himself as Gabriel, but in the second it is Luke who identified him as Gabriel. The only other named angel in the New Testament is "Michael the archangel" (in Jude 1:9). Gabriel is not called an archangel in the Bible. Believers are expressly warned not to worship angels (in Colossians 2:18-19 and Revelation 19:10).^[8]

Gabriel's horn

In English-speaking culture, a familiar trope is the image of Gabriel blowing a trumpet blast to indicate the Lord's return to Earth. It ranges from its first appearance in English in John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667)^[9] to African-American spirituals: in Marc Connelly's play based on spirituals, The Green Pastures (1930), Gabriel has his beloved trumpet constantly with him, and the Lord has to warn him not to blow it too soon.^[10] Four years later "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" was introduced by Ethel Merman in Cole Porter's Anything Goes (1934). The mathematical figure given the modern name "Gabriel's Horn", was invented by Evangelista Torricelli (1608–1647); it is a paradoxical solid of revolution that has infinite surface area, but finite volume.

In Islamic tradition, though not specified in the Qur'an, the trumpeter sounding the trump of doom^[11] is not Gabriel, but Israfil.

The earliest identification of Gabriel as the trumpeter that S. Vernon McCasland was able to trace was in an Armenian illuminated manuscript dated 1455, at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.^[12]

Feast days

The feast of Saint Gabriel was included for the first time in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, for celebration on March 24. In 1969 it was transferred to 29 September for celebration together with St. Michaeland St. Raphael.^[13] The Church of England has also adopted the 29 September date, known as Michaelmas.

The Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite celebrate his feast day on 8 November (for those churches that follow the traditional Julian Calendar, 8 November currently falls on 21 November of the modern Gregorian Calendar, a difference of 13 days). Eastern Orthodox commemorate him, not only on his November feast, but also on two other days: 26 March is the "Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel" and celebrates his role in the Annunciation. 13 July is also known as the "Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel", and celebrates all the appearances and miracles attributed to Gabriel throughout history. The feast was first established on Mount Athos when, in the ninth century, during the reign of EmperorBasil II and the Empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus and while Nicholas Chrysoverges was Patriarch of Constantinople, the Archangel appeared in a cell near Karyes, where he wrote with his finger on a stone tablet the hymn to the Theotokos, "It is truly meet...".^[14]

The Ethiopian Church celebrates his feast on 28 December, with a sizeable number of its believers making a pilgrimage to a church dedicated to "Saint Gabriel" in Kulubi on that day.^[15]

Additionally Gabriel is the patron saint of messengers, those who work for broadcasting and telecommunications such as radio and television, remote sensing, and postal workers.

Reference:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel