God adorns Himself in magnificence and clothes Himself with beauty. Man stands amazed and contemplates the glory whose light causes a hymn of praise to burst forth from the heart of every creature. The Testamentum Domini gives us the following prayer:
Let them be filled with the Holy Spirit . . . so they can sing a doxology and give you praise and glory forever.
An icon is the same kind of doxology but in a different form. It radiates joy and sings the glory of God in its own way. True beauty does not need proof. The icon does not prove anything; it simply lets true beauty shine forth. In itself, the icon is shining proof of God’s existence, according to a kalokagathic argument – Paul Evdokimov, The Art of the Icon: A Theology of Beauty.
