This icon portrays Saint John the Theologian and his disciple Prochoros (Prokhor in Russian) on the island of Patmos. John turns his head towards the top left of the scene, there we see a cloud from which emanates the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, representing divine inspiration. To the right of the icon, we see Prochoros, writing the first words of the gospel of John ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. (John 1:1).

At the top of the icon, we see the winged lion holding the gospel. In Orthodoxy, unlike in the Western tradition, the four symbols of the Evangelists are not concrete. Irenaeus, a second century Greek bishop, attributed the lion to John as his gospel began with confidence.