This icon must have been part of a Deesis, together with two other icons, one of Christ in the center, and another of the Mother of God on his right.
The asceticism and suffering of the tragic Prophet are portrayed in the most intense manner during the last phase of Palaeologan art. Lighting in this scene is such that the Saint appears to dematerialize, transforming into pure light after his union with God in a spectacular display of light. John appears to us as a vision before a mystical light, and thus becomes a symbol of the deification (theosis) of man, a fundamental doctrine of the Orthodox Church.
