Further to David's post, some observations. The image of Christ is not really in the hands of the artist, the iconographer. Rather it is something entrusted to the iconographer by the Tradition. So, it will of course resemble other images of Christ. The Pantocrator is the standard depiction of Christ as He is now, and so other images work out from here. One of the images of Christ I was consciously working from was Christ of the Powers, a version of Christ as Lord of All (Pantocrator) but within the celestial hierarchy and in glory. This is a 'version' one might say of Christ Lord of All, but in another sense it is an image type of its own. I wanted to emphasise the Lordship of Christ throughout and over all things, physical and spiritual, as the Source and Sustainer of all things as I think this ties in with Teilhard's insights into the Sacred Heart.

One of the differences from images of the Pantocrator is in the colour of Christ's vestment - here the white of purity and light, reminding us of the Transfiguration when Christ' glory, as the centre of all things, was manifested and also of the icons of the descent into hell, rescuing the lost and manifesting His power over death and hell itself. That He is otherwise naked is reminiscent of some Western images of Christ in glory, but also of Christ the Bridegroom, the moment when Christ shows the depths of His love, laying down His life for us on the Cross.