Christ Pantocrator

Pantocrator (from the Greek Παντοκράτωρ) is one of many Names of God in Judaism that appeared in the Hebrew Bible as it was translated into Greek known as the Septuagint.  A literal translation of the word pantocrator is "ruler of all."

This image is from the Deësis ('Δέησις' in Greek, meaning Entreaty) mosaic dating from about 1261 and is fixed to the architecture of the Hagia Sophia Church in Istanbul, Turkey. 


During the Sack of Constantinople in 1204, the Latin Crusaders vandalized valuable items in every important Byzantine structure of the city, including the golden mosaics of the Hagia Sophia.  Following the building's conversion into a mosque in 1453, many of its mosaics were covered with plaster, due to Islam's ban on representational imagery.  Restorations in 1847-49 uncovered and renewed the Deësis mosaic as it is seen today.