Saint John of Damascus
Usually the character is depicted standing or bust, seen frontally or semi-profile. He is represented as an ascetic, elderly man with white hair and beard. Because St. John of Damascus was an ordained monk he is often represented dressed in monastic habit, covered by a dark mantle, or in a long dark tunic covered by the monastic habit. Sometimes, a stole or epitrachelion is worn over the monastic habit. An iconographic specific trait for this character is the turban-like headwear, made up of a usually white shawl decorated with black or dark geometrical motifs. This type of shawl was generally used in Byzantine iconography in order to represent Middle Eastern characters, in this case it is an allusion to the Arab origin of St. John of Damascus.
Usually the character is depicted standing or bust, seen frontally or semi-profile. He is represented as an ascetic, elderly man with white hair and beard. Because St. John of Damascus was an ordained monk he is often represented dressed in monastic habit, covered by a dark mantle, or in a long dark tunic covered by the monastic habit. Sometimes, a stole or epitrachelion is worn over the monastic habit. An iconographic specific trait for this character is the turban-like headwear, made up of a usually white shawl decorated with black or dark geometrical motifs. This type of shawl was generally used in Byzantine iconography in order to represent Middle Eastern characters, in this case it is an allusion to the Arab origin of St. John of Damascus.
