Icons throughout history have had many different meanings, both sacred and for everyday lifestyle. Each culture practices different ideologies that present a different set of interpretations. Paintings, sculptures, and crafts are examples of different mediums used to portray icons, but they may have the same meaning as the others. In Christ the Savior of Souls, early 14th century, from the church of San Clemente, the artist uses a highly spiritual figure as a subject, placed in the central fold, using contrasting colors to convey its importance to the people who appear before him and to show the divinity of the figure itself. Representing a similar trend, the seated Buddha on the lion throne of 2nd century AD India presents the same meaning of a highly spiritual human being, proceeding upon his followers but through an entirely different art form. These two forms have great significance both for the spirituality of their followers and for ordinary people. Often placed in a place considered scary by their culture, it stands as a relic and reminder of the ideology they choose to follow. Christ the Savior of Souls and the Seated Buddha have many similarities. These two icons depict two leaders of a spiritual kingdom or religion; Christ the head of Christianity and Buddha the head of Buddhism. Christ, the centerpiece of the painting, is portrayed in a divine state, his robe is brightly colored and his folds are strictly Byzantine with his schematizing appearance. Christ holds the Bible in one hand while blessing the faithful with the gesture of the right hand, similar to the Buddha, who is seated in the neat yogic pose, also showing the gesture of the fearless hand and the wheel of the law located in the palm and on the soles of his feet. This...... middle of paper...... things like Christ are not idols that followers worship but are rather a sacred reminder of him that people remember as the savior, compared to Buddhism where they worship the statues and feed the statue as if it were a human. Christ the Savior of Souls and Buddha sitting on the Lion Throne are similar in the way each piece has the same visual composition and represents a spiritual leader in a divine way. Two very distinct and different cultures with similar motives, but the people they follow have contrasting ideologies. Over time many cultures often look to previous cultures for inspiration to make their work more interesting and appealing to their audiences. These two pieces are a great example of how to mix different periodic styles to make a piece more visually interesting and not just focus on the visual appearance but on its underlined meaning.