According to iconographer Photios Kontoglou:
"Below the bench on which they (the apostles) are seated, the figure of an old man is portrayed, with a crown on his head and with a defined, round beard, who is holding out a sheet with both his hands; on this sheet are twelve scrolls, which are rolled-up papers. This old man represents the Kosmos (World), and the paper scrolls represent the twelve regions that were ordained for the spreading of the gospel throughout the World by the twelve Apostles. In older icons of Pentecost, in place of the Kosmos (the old man) we find depictions of assorted people of different nations dressed in unusual garments, all looking upwards as if listening in amazement to the apostlic message, and above them is the inscription: PEOPLE, RACES AND LANGUAGES. These figures represent the people of various nations, who happened to be in Jerusalem on the day of the Pentecost at the moment of the descent of the Holy Spirit, and who, on learning of the tumult that was caused by the visitation of the Holy Spirit, crowded into the building that housed the apostles and then stood in amazement, when each one heard - in his own language - the sermon that came forth from the mouths of Christ's disciples, exactly as reported in the Acts of the Apostles."
According to a 17th century text:
"Why is it, that during the descent of the Holy Spirit, we see the depiction of a man seated in a dark area, bent over with age, garbed in red, wearing a royal crown on his head and holding a white cloth in his hands on which there are twelve inscribed cylinders? The man seated in a dark area signifies that the world was - until then - without faith. He is bent over with age, because mankind has aged on account of Adam's sin. His red garment signifies the wily one's bloody sacrifices. The royal crown signifies the sin that ruled the world. The white cloth that he holds in his hands with the twelve cylinders signifies the twelve apostles who brought the light to the world, through their teachings."
According to the Cretan iconographer of the 16th century, Theophanes the Cretan:
"The icon depicts an open composition and situates the event in a wide, lofty scene, the 'gallery' of which is dominated by the boundless ecclesiastical space that rules over the world. It is open from above, as if it is drawn towards the sky, towards the paternal Source, from where the fiery tongues depart, the Trinitarian energies concentrated in the Holy Spirit.
It also opens downward into a black arch, where a prisoner, dressed like a king, is being tortured! Elsewhere, the arch is enclosed with a prison railing, emphasizing a state of captivity. The inscription around the head of the prisoner explains that he is the World personified, the captive universe of the Prince of this world.
The darkness that surrounds him, depicting 'the shadows and the shadow of death,' represents the universally acknowledged hades from which the unbaptized world departs, longing for the most luminous place, which also desires the apostolic light of the gospel. He extends his hands to receive the grace, as well as the twelve scrolls that he holds with reverence over a fabric, symbolizing the preaching of the twelve apostles, the apostolic mission of the Church, and the global promise of salvation.
It is the contrast between these two worlds that coexist; above is the 'new earth,' the ideal World, ignited by the divine fire, and below is the imprisoned, the desperate World that reaches out its hand towards Christ, from whom it will never remain empty."
"Below the bench on which they (the apostles) are seated, the figure of an old man is portrayed, with a crown on his head and with a defined, round beard, who is holding out a sheet with both his hands; on this sheet are twelve scrolls, which are rolled-up papers. This old man represents the Kosmos (World), and the paper scrolls represent the twelve regions that were ordained for the spreading of the gospel throughout the World by the twelve Apostles. In older icons of Pentecost, in place of the Kosmos (the old man) we find depictions of assorted people of different nations dressed in unusual garments, all looking upwards as if listening in amazement to the apostlic message, and above them is the inscription: PEOPLE, RACES AND LANGUAGES. These figures represent the people of various nations, who happened to be in Jerusalem on the day of the Pentecost at the moment of the descent of the Holy Spirit, and who, on learning of the tumult that was caused by the visitation of the Holy Spirit, crowded into the building that housed the apostles and then stood in amazement, when each one heard - in his own language - the sermon that came forth from the mouths of Christ's disciples, exactly as reported in the Acts of the Apostles."
According to a 17th century text:
"Why is it, that during the descent of the Holy Spirit, we see the depiction of a man seated in a dark area, bent over with age, garbed in red, wearing a royal crown on his head and holding a white cloth in his hands on which there are twelve inscribed cylinders? The man seated in a dark area signifies that the world was - until then - without faith. He is bent over with age, because mankind has aged on account of Adam's sin. His red garment signifies the wily one's bloody sacrifices. The royal crown signifies the sin that ruled the world. The white cloth that he holds in his hands with the twelve cylinders signifies the twelve apostles who brought the light to the world, through their teachings."
According to the Cretan iconographer of the 16th century, Theophanes the Cretan:
"The icon depicts an open composition and situates the event in a wide, lofty scene, the 'gallery' of which is dominated by the boundless ecclesiastical space that rules over the world. It is open from above, as if it is drawn towards the sky, towards the paternal Source, from where the fiery tongues depart, the Trinitarian energies concentrated in the Holy Spirit.
It also opens downward into a black arch, where a prisoner, dressed like a king, is being tortured! Elsewhere, the arch is enclosed with a prison railing, emphasizing a state of captivity. The inscription around the head of the prisoner explains that he is the World personified, the captive universe of the Prince of this world.
The darkness that surrounds him, depicting 'the shadows and the shadow of death,' represents the universally acknowledged hades from which the unbaptized world departs, longing for the most luminous place, which also desires the apostolic light of the gospel. He extends his hands to receive the grace, as well as the twelve scrolls that he holds with reverence over a fabric, symbolizing the preaching of the twelve apostles, the apostolic mission of the Church, and the global promise of salvation.
It is the contrast between these two worlds that coexist; above is the 'new earth,' the ideal World, ignited by the divine fire, and below is the imprisoned, the desperate World that reaches out its hand towards Christ, from whom it will never remain empty."
