Prophet Elijah's Ascension Other icons devoted to the subject provide a wonderful comparison and prove the originality and uniqueness of this portrayal of Elijah. The similarities that most icons share are the basic compositional elements: the prophet in his fiery chariot, the fireball, Elisha trying to hold on to the prophet's cloak, angels, the river Jordan, the hand of God in heaven, and the sleeping Elijah attended by the angel. All the paintings place significant emphasis and devote most of the space to the large red fireball surrounding the chariot; however, the fireball is different in each icon -- sometimes it is shaped as a raindrop, sometimes as an oval. The color of the fireball may change: on a Novgorodian 16th-century icon it is a yellowish gold ball surrounded by a ring of red (see the picture on the right). In most icons, at least two angels are shown hovering around the outer perimeter of the fireball. The trumpeting angel is a detail that does not appear often in other icons. In addition, all of the icons show Elijah's disciple grasping to hold on to him and bring him back to earth. Smaller details differentiating the icons are the number of horses in the chariot, the chariot's shape, the cross near the body of Elijah, the vessels with food brought by an angel, and the trees and mountains. [F.S.] [Sources: Onasch, Rice, Lazarev]. http://www.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/elijah.html