THE GALLERY OF THE ICONS
Icon, or devotional image, was an exclusively Byzantine product which enjoyed considerable popularity from the 12th century A.D. onwards in Anatolia and adjacent region and is still used in Christian Orthodox churches.
Unlike monumental decoration, the icon has no ornamental function; rather, it is something to be worshipped, has protective powers and is an object of personal piety to be venerated, presented to the sick and taken on journeys. In acts of devotion, the icon of a saint or an event is brought out on the appropriate feast day; it is incensed and carried in processions.
The figure painted on the icons in a technique called tempera on wood were made on the principle of likeness to the holly persons they represent.
The origins of the icon which played an important role in the evolution of Byzantine painting can be traced back to the Hellenistic tradition of Late Roman portraiture.
Upper floor of the Hall of Sarcophagi is devoted to icons from the various churches in and around Antalya, date from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. On the wall there is a series of icons narrating the life of Christ: the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple, the Circumcision, the Teaching in the Temple, Healing the Blind Man, Speaking with a Woman of a Samaria, the Transfiguration, the Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Washing the Feet of the Disciples, Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
The most colorful icon on exhibition is, the figuring Christ and 12 Apostles, Christ in the mid with 6 Apostles on both sides, heading Christ expect for Judas in the second (row) heading versus.
There are other icons that depict the Virgin and Child, the Evangelists, St. John the Baptist, and St. Nicholas of Myra.