(from the word life)

Icon, in the center (middle) of which there is an image of a saint, and in the margins individual compositions(stigma) - scenes from his life. Scenes in the hallmarks are sometimes accompanied by explanatory inscriptions, usually quotations from hagiographies. They appeared in Byzantium in the 9th century, from where they spread to Rus', the Balkans, and Italy.

They have become widespread in Rus' since the 15th century. They usually represent a canonical image of a saint, surrounded around the perimeter by stamps, that is, small images dedicated to various events his life. The marks are clearly separated from each other, and represent a self-sufficient image that conveys the essence of the feat. Placed in the chronological sequence of the saint’s life, they form a specific story and give rise to the inclusion of everyday realities.

The top row usually tells about the birth and events early years saint, in the lower one - about his death. The side rows are dedicated to manifestations of his holiness: miracles, deeds in the name of faith, martyrdom performed after death.

In hagiographic icons, the timeless, supramundane is especially clearly associated with the earthly, hagiographic.

From the 9th century In Byzantium, icons appeared that captured the life (life) of one or another saint - hagiographic icons. From Byzantium, hagiographic icons come to Italy, the Balkans, Rus' and the Caucasus.

What is depicted in a hagiographic icon is revealed to a person in its entirety.

The representation of time in the icon is unique. The saint standing before the one praying is outside of time, in another world. But the plots of his earthly life unfold both in time and in space, showing the birth of the future saint, his baptism, training, sometimes travel, suffering, miracles, burial and transfer of relics...

However, even “earthly” space and time in the icon are quite conventional: in an execution scene, for example, an executioner may be depicted raising a sword over a martyr who has bowed his head, and next to him is a severed head lying on the ground. More important characters are often larger than others or repeated more than once within the same image.

Stamps:

In the middle margins (from left to right): Saints Peter, Alexy, Jonah and Philip, Metropolitans of Moscow, John and Nikita, Bishops of Novgorod.

On the corners of the icon: the evangelists John the Theologian, Matthew, Mark and Luke.

On the top field: the Annunciation, Our Lady of Kazan, Our Lady of the Sign, three ecumenical saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian.

On the side margins (from left to right): Guardian Angel, Saints Nicholas the Wonderworker and John the Merciful, Martyr Nazarius, Saints Mark the Thracian and John the Long-Suffering, Righteous Alexy the Man of God and Saint Moses Murin, Righteous Philaret the Merciful and Saint Varlaam of Khutyn.

In the lower field in the center is the Hieromartyr Antipas of Pergamon, on the left is Venerable Sergius Radonezh and Cassian the Roman, unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, martyr Thomaida, on the right - St. Hypatius, Archdeacon Lawrence, martyr John the Warrior, Great Martyrs Varvara and Paraskeva.

It is well known that ancient Russian painting was in close connection with literature. This poses the task of studying them together, which I wrote a lot about in last years D.S. Likhachev. One cannot but agree with the thought he expressed: “The convergence between the arts and the study of their divergences among themselves make it possible to reveal such patterns and facts that would remain hidden to us if we studied each art in isolation from each other.”

Therefore, the achievement of this goal was carried out through the simultaneous study of both the texts of the lives and hagiographic icon. As is known, the life was perceived in the ancient Russian consciousness as a verbal icon of the saint.

The Lives were reread many times, being taken as a whole, as an icon, as a sacred reality, intended for veneration, prayer, and imitation. The attitude of the believer to the icon and life is in many ways identical.

The icon and the life come into contact most closely in the hagiographic icon, which is an attempt at the pictorial unification of the icon and the life, the verbal and pictorial image. In the center of the icon the saint is depicted, and on the margins of the icon, in stamps, are episodes from his life. Iconography in its personal genre gives the image of a saint outside of a specific historical time and outside of time in general, we see the same thing in the middle.

But the stigma hagiographic icon, framing the middle, as if they surround eternity with time. The episodes depicted in the hallmarks are only the most important milestones marking the life path of the saint - tonsure or ordination, miracles, death, posthumous miracles.

The marks are arranged on the icon not so much according to the principle of unfolding the action in time, but rather according to the principle of additional evidence of the holiness of what is depicted; The hagiographic icon, like any icon, is oriented not toward time, but toward the dual unity of the holy place and eternity.

Thus, the eternity that reigns in the center of the icon is only emphasized by the system of simultaneously perceived marks on the margins of the icon.

2.2. Various editions of the Life of Saints Dionysius and Amphilochius of Glushitsky.

In the course of studying the icon, it was necessary to determine which life this icon was written based on. Therefore, I was faced with a difficult task - to study and systematize materials and various editions of the lives of saints.

“The life of Dionysius Glushitsky is known in more than 80 lists, of which at least 37 are from the 16th century. None of the lists accurately conveys the text of Deacon Irinarch. They read 4 complete editions of the Life: the Main edition, represented by a small number of lists, the Menain and short Menaion editions, found only in the Chetyih Menaia, the Abridged edition, known in the first list, two editions of modern times and a significant number of prologue editions and variants.” ()

So, we know that the first Life of the Venerable Dionysius of Glushitsky was written by the monk Irinarch of the same Glushitsky Intercession Monastery in 1495, 58 years after the death of the monk.

In his narrative, he was based not only on the words and records of people who heard the stories of the saint’s disciples, but also on the notes of eyewitnesses and contemporaries. “The Life of Dionysius as edited by Irinarchus, in the sense of a historical source, is one of the few excellent lives that can be found in ancient Russian literature.” ()

“According to research by V.O. Klyuchevsky’s main edition is secondary to the mineain one. Apparently, Klyuchevsky perceived the menaion edition as the text of Irinarch.” (

Semyon Spiridonov Kholmogorets painted his best work, the icon “Ilya the Prophet in the Twenty-Six Stamps of his Life,” in 1678, the year he was promoted to the position of royal paid isographer. This icon should rightfully be called not only a masterpiece of the master, but also of all Russian icon painting of the second half of the 17th century. Apparently, the artist himself attached a similar significance to the work, conceiving it as an example of “freedom of iconic imagination”, as evidence confirming the validity of the high assessment given to his work by the best isographers of the Tsar's Armory.

For the first time on this icon, Semyon Spiridonov introduces a golden patterned arch on thin figured columns into the composition of the central part of the hagiographic icon. Such arches later became a characteristic element of the decoration of mullions in other works of the master.

The compositional design of the Elijah the Prophet icon is distinguished by its clarity. The middle part, the frame with the text, and the rows of stamps are strictly demarcated. The marks do not merge with each other, but are separated from one another by rather wide stripes of gold backgrounds. But despite the isolation of each of the listed details, when viewing the icon from a distance, everything seems united into one whole and serves as a luxurious frame for the central image in the middle. The pictorial solution of Spiridonov’s icons is so magnificent that they were never decorated with metal frames, crowns and quotes, even when centuries later the painting darkened, when the colors of the images under drying oil became less bright.

Taking a closer look at the master's best creations - dated hagiographic icons, one can notice that Kholmogorets always painted with great skill not large figures in the centerpieces, but small ones in stamps. His true vocation was miniature painting. In this type of painting, he was a recognized authority, and few of the artist’s contemporary masters, even among the Yaroslavl icon painters of the second half of the 17th century, could compete with him in the ability to draw tiny figures of people, build intricate architectural compositions, and compose various scenes in icon stamps based on the texts of the lives of saints .

Semyon Spiridonov painted hagiographic icons, the composition of the stamps of which had not changed for centuries, and images, the hagiographic cycles of which had to be developed almost for the first time. Among his latest works are the icons of Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. Basil and John, the fathers of the church and compilers of the liturgy, were the highest authorities in matters of faith.

People in the hallmarks of Spiridonov’s icons are slender and graceful. All of them are dressed in elegant, colorful clothes: in traditional iconographic tunics and himation, in Russian costumes of the 16th-17th centuries, in military armor in the Baroque style. Little people do not walk on the ground, but seem to hover over it, touching it with their toes. The poses and gestures of people are exquisitely noble, devoid of vanity. Unlike Yaroslavl artists, who sought to imagine people running, gesticulating wildly, and to depict action at the moment of highest tension, Semyon Spiridonov preferred scenes developing in a slow rhythm.

The second half of the 17th century was for the ancient Russian people a time of profound changes in literally all aspects of life. During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the foundations of Russian feudal absolutism were laid. In the second half of the 17th century, Latin and Greek schools were created in Russia. People of those years argued not only about issues of faith, but also about many other subjects. The Russian people become familiar with the culture of European countries with interest and curiosity, marvel at the way of life of foreigners living in Moscow and Yaroslavl, but are afraid to establish friendly relations with them.

The worldview of the Russian artist was exclusively religious; the theme of his works was always subjects of Christian mythology. But it is wrong to think that Russian masters could not, within the framework of these themes, identify subjects that sounded modern and made it possible to display the characteristic phenomena of that time. Real artists knew how to respond to the events that took place during their lifetime, to saturate the traditional icon image with themes and motifs that were interesting and understandable to a wide range of contemporaries. For example, one of the marks of the icon “The Virgin and Child on the Throne” depicts the siege of the city of Constantinople by warships. Behind the red brick fortress wall, fortified with pointed towers, in the city cathedral, townspeople and clergy pray to the icon of Our Lady Hodegetria and ask for help to repel the enemy. For the first time, Spiridonov’s icons in this scene depict formidable warships armed with cannons, the muzzles of which protrude from open square hatches. Shown Various types ships, large, medium and small. But the drawing of each vessel, regardless of its size, is made meticulously and accurately.

Semyon Spiridonov was able to identify subjects in the hagiographic cycle of an icon, the content of which resonated with contemporary events and made it possible to evaluate them.

The hallmarks of the icons of Semyon Spiridonov Kholmogorets, like small precious images by famous Stroganov masters and miniatures in luxurious handwritten books, are designed for long-term admiration. Their exquisite beauty is revealed gradually.

The Life Icon, or as it is also called, the Life Icon, differs from classical Orthodox icons in that scenes from his life are depicted around the image of the saint. They began to paint icons of the lives of saints in the 9th century. As a rule, these icons are large in size and are revered as local images of churches consecrated in honor of these saints. Life icons depict not only saints, but also... Not only episodes of life are written on them, but also miracles that occurred after the death of the saint. These icons are very valuable for Orthodox people, so many try to buy an icon of the life in order to have full picture ideas about the life of the saint and the miracles associated with him. Very often, scenes on stamps are explained with inscriptions, often with quotes from life.

Most Popular Icons Life

One of the most revered miraculous icons is the icon of the Life of St. Panteleimon. Those Orthodox Christians who are very ill or who have a terminally ill relative in their family try to buy an icon. Panteleimon is revered not only as a healer, but also as the patron saint of warriors. On the icons he is depicted as a young man in a blue tunic, with golden armlets, and a brown cloak. There is a white narrow ribbon on the shoulder. IN right hand the cross of martyrs, in the left there is a medicine box and a measuring spoon. Around the saint - his scenes Orthodox life, healing the sick, and the plot with his execution. No less revered is the icon of the life of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, who distinguished himself by becoming the defender of Christians at a time when they were exterminated by Emperor Diocletian. For his intercession and patronage of the poor, he was subjected to a terrible execution. The icon depicts St. George the Victorious on the throne, with a sword in his hands, and all his exploits are written on the stamps. This saint is prayed to for protection from enemies, as well as for the patronage of cattle breeding. There are many saints in Orthodox history, which are written in the plots of their lives, which the Orthodox people honor and remember.

Icons of the lives of saints in the works of artists and craftsmen

The most ancient of all icons of the lives of saints are icons painted on wood. These icons most clearly convey the story of his life, his exploits and miracles. But along with these works, icons embroidered with beads have gained great popularity in modern life. These works are distinguished by bright colors that convey the beauty of the image. Life icons embroidered with beads are very rare. Reproducing numerous scenes is a very painstaking and delicate work that requires great skill.

An icon that consists of several images and also includes hagiographic scenes is usually called a hagiographic icon. In the center of the icon space there is an image of the saint, and around the centerpiece there are compositions illustrating the events of the saint’s life, i.e. his life, deeds, miracles. There is no information exactly when the first hagiographic icons appeared. Their appearance was preceded by images of hagiographic compositions in book miniatures and in temple paintings. The Holy Fathers of Christianity left in their writings references to icons with the events of the Lives of the Saints. So in " Word of praise» St. Vmch. Theodore of St. Gregory of Nyssa says that the icon depicts “... the valiant deeds of the martyr, the story of the feat is recounted with the art of colors.”



In icon painting, different principles for the arrangement of hagiographic scenes are known. Traditionally, in the Byzantine school on hagiographic icons, the arrangement and reading of subjects in stamps placed around the centerpiece with the image of a saint begins with the upper left stamp, continues along the upper field, then is depicted alternately from left to right in the margins and ends with the stamp in the lower right corner. Sometimes the sequence of the image was disrupted. In this case, the texts help “read the image” and understand the reasons for the deviation from the canon. The main literary source for the subjects of the hagiographic icon were various versions of the lives of saints; often, in addition to canonical texts, they resorted to apocryphal sources. A mandatory element of the icon was the writing of the name of the saint and an inscription with explanatory text on each plot mark.


One of the oldest hagiographic icons is the Cypriot icon, quite large in size (106 cm by 62 cm), of St. Martyr. Marinas in Nicosia.

There was great interest in the hagiographic icon in Ancient Rus'. Such icons were especially distinguished by their richness of ideas, diversity visual arts and are rightfully considered a historical heritage of national culture.

Many art historians believe that hagiographic icons appeared in Rus' already in the “pre-Mongol” period. The earliest surviving depiction of episodes from the lives of saints is in the painting of 4 aisles of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (approximately the middle of the 11th century), describing the Life of the Mother of God, scenes from the lives of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, Great Martyr. St. George the Victorious.

There are known ancient Russian hagiographic icons with the marks of Saints Boris and Gleb, an icon of the Prophet Elijah in the desert with a hagiography and Deesis, the second half of the 13th century, an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with his life of the 14th century.

Hagiographic icons have been preserved in rural churches of Rus', in the collections of icon collectors, and in museums.

In terms of the composition of the plots of the stamps, Russian hagiographic icons differ from Byzantine monuments.

The Novgorod hagiographic letter “Gospel Scenes” from the Church of Boris and Gleb in Plotniki gained worldwide fame. It is believed that this is the only icon that does not have a center, a rare surviving example of a “tape” presentation of gospel stories. In the works of St. Dionysius glorifies the deeds of Russian saints, which is embodied in a number of hagiographic images made for the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin and Russian monasteries.

The second half of the 16th century gives the world a new look at the hagiographic icon; its educational role dominates. More marks appear on the icon, and detailed images of the lives of saints become widespread. If a detailed life of a saint was not preserved, then childhood events were depicted on stamps.

Modern icon painters still often turn to hagiographic icons, following the ancient traditions of painting images of saints with their lives.

Today, probably, in every icon-painting workshop you can find a hagiographic icon, which the masters make on