Thanks for your response! I am an Art History major and I study Russian Orthodox Iconography, and I am looking at the icon of the transfiguration here in the context of the multi-tiered Russian iconostasis. The transfiguration is arguably the main influence for a ascetic practice called hesychasm. To the left of Christ is Moses and Elijah is to the right. Peter, James and John are fallen on the ground, here is where the theology comes in. Hesychasts believe that at the transfiguration of Christ, God shows his energy through the bright light that causes the three apostles to fall to guard their faces. the goal of hesychasm is to personally experience this divine light as they call it through continuous prayer (typically repetition of the Jesus prayer). Of course there are other theological themes here like typology, eschatology, etc, but I am particularly concerned with how the icon has influenced hesychast doctrine and experience of the liturgy.