The miraculous icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. Savior not made by hands

The first Christian icon is the Savior Not Made by Hands, it is the basis of all Orthodox icon veneration.

According to the Tradition set forth in the Menaion, Augar V Ukhama, ill with leprosy, sent his archivist Hannan (Ananias) to Christ with a letter in which he asked Christ to come to Edessa and heal him. Hannan was an artist, and Avgar instructed him, if the Savior could not come, to write His image and bring it to him.

Hannan found Christ surrounded by a dense crowd; he stood on a stone, from which he could see better, and tried to portray the Savior. Seeing that Hannan wanted to make His portrait, Christ demanded water, washed himself, wiped His face with a cloth, and His image was imprinted on this cloth. The Savior gave this board to Hannan with the command to take it with a letter in response to the one who sent it. In this letter, Christ refused to go to Edessa himself, saying that he must fulfill what he was sent to do. After completing His work, He promised to send one of His disciples to Abgar.

Having received the portrait, Avgar was healed of his main illness, but his face was still damaged.

After Pentecost, the holy Apostle Thaddeus went to Edessa. While preaching the Good News, he baptized the king and most of the population. Coming out of the baptismal font, Abgar discovered that he was completely healed, and gave thanks to the Lord. By order of Avgar, the holy robe (plate) was pasted on a board of non-decaying wood, decorated and placed above the gates of the city instead of the idol previously located there. And everyone had to bow to the "miracle-working" image of Christ, as the new heavenly patron of the city.

However, the grandson of Avgar, having ascended the throne, decided to return the people to the worship of idols and for this to destroy the Image Not Made by Hands. The Bishop of Edessa, warned in a vision about this plan, ordered to wall up the niche where the Icon was located, placing a lighted lamp in front of it.
Over time, this place was forgotten.

In 544, during the siege of Edessa by the troops of the Persian king Chosroes, Edessa Bishop Eulalius was given a revelation about the whereabouts of the Icon Not Made by Hands. Having dismantled the brickwork in the indicated place, the residents saw not only a perfectly preserved image and a lampada that had not been extinguished for so many years, but also the imprint of the Most Holy Face on ceramics - a clay board that covered the holy ubrus.

After the procession with the Icon Not Made by Hands along the walls of the city, the Persian army retreated.

A linen kerchief with the image of Christ was kept in Edessa for a long time as the most important treasure of the city. During the period of iconoclasm, John of Damascus referred to the Image Not Made by Hands, and in 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council, citing it as the most important evidence in favor of icon veneration. In 944, the Byzantine emperors Constantine Porphyrogenitus and Roman I bought the Image Not Made by Hands from Edessa. Crowds of people surrounded and closed the procession during the transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands from the city to the banks of the Euphrates, where the galleys were waiting for the procession to cross the river. The Christians began to grumble, refusing to give up the holy Image unless there was a sign from God. And a sign was given to them. Suddenly, the galley, on which the Icon Not Made by Hands had already been carried, swam without any action and landed on the opposite shore.

The silent Edessians returned to the city, and the procession with the Image moved further by dry route. Throughout the journey to Constantinople, miracles of healing were continually performed. The monks and hierarchs accompanying the Image Not Made by Hands, with a magnificent ceremony, traveled all over the capital by sea and installed the holy Image in the Pharos temple. In honor of this event, on August 16, the church holiday of the Transfer from Edessa to Constantinople of the Image Not Made by Hands (Ubrus) of the Lord Jesus Christ was established.

Exactly 260 years the Icon Not Made by Hands was kept in Constantinople (Constantinople). In 1204, the crusaders turned their weapons against the Greeks and took possession of Constantinople. Together with a lot of gold, jewelry and sacred objects, they captured and transported to the ship and the Image Not Made by Hands. But, according to the inscrutable fate of the Lord, the Icon Not Made by Hands did not remain in their hands. When they sailed along the Sea of Marmara, a terrible storm suddenly arose, and the ship quickly sank. The greatest Christian shrine has disappeared. This ends the story of the true Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

There is a legend that the Icon Not Made by Hands was transferred around 1362 to Genoa, where it is kept in a monastery in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew.
In the Orthodox icon-painting tradition, there are two main types of images of the Holy Face: "The Savior on the Ubrus", or "Ubrus" and "The Savior on the Chrepie", or "Chrepie".

On the icons of the “Savior on the Ubrus” type, the image of the face of the Savior is placed against the background of a plate, the fabric of which is gathered into folds, and its upper ends are tied in knots. Around the head is a halo, a symbol of holiness. The color of the halo is usually golden. Unlike the halos of saints, the nimbus of the Savior has an inscribed cross. This element is present only in the iconography of Jesus Christ. In Byzantine images, it was decorated with precious stones. Later, the cross in halos began to be depicted as consisting of nine lines according to the number of nine angelic ranks and three Greek letters were entered (I am the Existing One), and on the sides of the nimbus against the background, the abbreviated name of the Savior was placed - IC and XC. Such icons in Byzantium were called "Saint Mandylion" (Άγιον Μανδύλιον from Greek μανδύας - "obrus, cloak").

On icons of the type “The Savior on the Skull”, or “The Skull”, according to legend, the image of the face of the Savior after the miraculous acquisition of the ubrus was also imprinted on the ceramide tile, which covered the Image Not Made by Hands. Such icons in Byzantium were called "Saint Keramidion". There is no board image on them, the background is even, and in some cases it imitates the texture of tiles or masonry.

The most ancient images were made on a clean background, without any hint of matter or tiles. The earliest surviving icon of the "Savior Not Made by Hands" - a Novgorod double-sided image of the 12th century - is in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Ubrus with folds began to spread on Russian icons from the 14th century.
Images of the Savior with a wedge-shaped beard (converging to one or two narrow ends) are also known in Byzantine sources, however, only on Russian soil did they take shape in a separate iconographic type and received the name “Savior Wet Brad”.

In the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Mother of God in the Kremlin there is one of the revered and rare icons - "Savior the Fiery Eye". It was written in 1344 for the old Assumption Cathedral. It depicts the stern face of Christ piercingly and sternly looking at the enemies of Orthodoxy - Rus' during this period was under the yoke of the Tatar-Mongols.

"The Savior Not Made by Hands" is an icon especially revered by Orthodox Christians in Rus'. She has always been present on Russian military flags since the time of the Mamaev battle.

A.G. Namerovsky. Sergius of Radonezh blesses Dmitry Donskoy for a feat of arms

Through many of His icons, the Lord manifested Himself, showing wondrous miracles. So, for example, in the village of Spasskoye, near the city of Tomsk, in 1666, a Tomsk painter, who was commissioned by the villagers for an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for their chapel, set to work in accordance with all the rules. He called the inhabitants to fasting and prayer, and on the prepared board he made a drawing of the face of the saint of God, so that he could work with paints the next day. But the next day, instead of St. Nicholas, I saw on the board the outlines of the Image of Christ the Savior Not Made by Hands! Twice he restored the features of Nicholas the Pleasant, and twice miraculously restored the face of the Savior on the board. The same thing happened a third time. So the icon of the Image Not Made by Hands was written on the board. The rumor about the accomplished sign went far beyond Spassky, and pilgrims began to flock here from everywhere. Quite a lot of time passed, from dampness, dust, the constantly open icon became dilapidated and required restoration. Then, on March 13, 1788, the icon painter Daniil Petrov, with the blessing of hegumen Pallady, the abbot of the monastery in Tomsk, began to remove the old face of the Savior from the icon with a knife in order to paint a new one. He removed a handful of paints from the board, but the holy face of the Savior remained unchanged. Fear attacked all who saw this miracle, and since then no one has dared to update the image. In 1930, like most churches, this church was closed and the icon disappeared.

The miraculous image of Christ the Savior, placed by no one knows who and no one knows when, in the city of Vyatka on the porch (porch in front of the church) of the Ascension Cathedral, became famous for countless healings that took place before him, mainly from eye diseases. A distinctive feature of the Vyatka Savior Not Made by Hands is the image of angels standing on the sides, the figures of which are not fully spelled out. Until 1917, a list from the miraculous Vyatka Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands hung from the inside over the Spassky Gates of the Moscow Kremlin. The icon itself was brought from Khlynov (Vyatka) and left in Moscow's Novospassky Monastery in 1647. The exact list was sent to Khlynov, and the second one was installed above the gates of the Frolovskaya tower. In honor of the image of the Savior and the fresco of the Savior of Smolensk from the outside, the gate through which the icon was delivered and the tower itself were called Spassky.

Another miraculous image of the Savior Not Made by Hands is located in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the city of St. Petersburg. The icon was painted for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by the famous icon painter Simon Ushakov. It was handed over by the tsar to her son, Peter I. He always took the icon with him on military campaigns, and he was with her at the laying of St. Petersburg. This icon saved the life of the king more than once. Emperor Alexander III carried a list of this miraculous icon with him. During the crash of the royal train on the Kursk-Kharkovo-Azov railway on October 17, 1888, he got out of the destroyed car along with his whole family unharmed. The icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands was also preserved intact, even the glass in the icon case remained intact.

In the collection of the State Museum of Arts of Georgia there is an encaustic icon of the 7th century, called the "Anchiskhat Savior", representing Christ from the chest. Popular Georgian tradition identifies this icon with the Icon of the Savior from Edessa.
In the West, the legend of the Savior Not Made by Hands has spread as a legend about the Payment of St. Veronica. According to it, the pious Jewess Veronica, who accompanied Christ on His way of the Cross to Golgotha, gave Him a linen handkerchief so that Christ could wipe the blood and sweat from his face. The face of Jesus was imprinted on a handkerchief. The relic, called "Veronica's plate" is kept in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. Presumably, the name of Veronica at the mention of the Image Not Made by Hands arose as a distortion of the Latin. vera icon (true image). In Western iconography, a distinctive feature of the images of the "Veronica" is the crown of thorns on the head of the Savior.

According to the Christian tradition, the Image not made by hands of the Savior Jesus Christ is one of the proofs of the truth of the incarnation in the human image of the second person of the Trinity. The opportunity to capture the image of God, according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, is associated with the Incarnation, that is, the birth of Jesus Christ, God the Son, or, as the believers usually call Him, the Savior, the Savior. Before His birth, the appearance of icons was unreal - God the Father is invisible and incomprehensible, therefore, indescribable. Thus, God himself became the first icon painter, His Son - “the image of His hypostasis” (Heb. 1.3). God took on a human face, the Word became flesh for the sake of man's salvation.

Troparion, tone 2
We worship Your most pure image, Good One, asking for forgiveness of our sins, Christ God: by will, thou didst deign to ascend the flesh to the cross, so deliver, even thou hast created, from the work of the enemy. The same thankful cry to Ty: Thou hast filled all the joys, our Savior, who came to save the world.

Kontakion, tone 2
Thy inexpressible and Divine looking at man, the Undescribed Word of the Father, and the unwritten and God-written image is victorious leading to Your unfalse incarnation, we honor that kissingly.

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Documentary film "The Savior Not Made by Hands"

The image left to us by the Savior himself. The very first detailed lifetime description of the appearance of Jesus Christ was left to us by the proconsul of Palestine, Publius Lentula. In Rome, in one of the libraries, an indisputably truthful manuscript of great historical value was found. This is a letter that Publius Lentulus, who ruled Judea before Pontius Pilate, wrote to the ruler of Rome, Caesar. It talked about Jesus Christ. The letter is in Latin and was written in the years when Jesus first taught the people.

Director: T. Malova, Russia, 2007

The miraculous image of the Savior is considered the most valuable and unique icon of its kind. This icon is worshiped by Christians all over the world, because the miraculous image can completely change the life of everyone who sincerely asks for it.

History of the icon

According to legend, the icon appeared with the help of a real miracle. King Abgar of Edessa fell ill with leprosy and wrote a letter to Jesus, asking him to be healed of a terrible disease. Jesus answered the letter, but the letter did not heal the king.

The dying monarch sent his servant to Jesus. The arrived man conveyed his request to the Savior. Jesus listened to the servant, went to the vessel with water, washed himself and wiped his face with a towel, on which His face was miraculously imprinted. The servant took the shrine, took it to Avgar, and he was completely healed, only by touching the towel.

The icon painters of Avgar rewrote the face that remained on the canvas, and the relic itself was closed in a scroll. Traces of the shrine are lost in Constantinople, where the scroll was transported for safety during the raids.

Description of the icon

The icon “The Savior Not Made by Hands” does not depict events; the Savior does not act as an inaccessible God. Only His face, only a look directed at everyone who approaches the icon.

This image carries the main thought and idea of the Christian faith, reminding everyone that it is through the person of Jesus that a person can come to the truth and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Prayer before this image is like talking alone with the Savior.

What do the icons pray for

Every Orthodox, praying before the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, has the most honest conversation with the Savior about his life and eternal life. It is customary to pray to this image in the most difficult life situations, when despair, despondency or anger do not allow to live like a Christian.

Prayer to the Savior before this image can help:

in the healing of a serious illness;
in getting rid of sorrows and sorrows;
in a complete life change.

Prayers to the miraculous image of the Savior

“Lord, my God, by Your mercy my life has been given to me. Lord, will You leave me in my trouble? Cover me, Jesus, and guide me beyond the lines of my trouble, save me from new shocks and show me the way to rest and peace. Forgive me my sins, Lord, and let me humbly enter Your Kingdom. Amen".

“Heavenly Savior, Creator and Protector, Shelter and Cover, do not leave me. Heal, Lord, my spiritual and bodily wounds, save me from pain and troubles and forgive me my sins, voluntary and involuntary. Amen".

“Lord, by Your mercy I will be cleansed, and I will find Your grace. My God, do not leave me in sorrow and trouble, give me your radiance and let me find Your blessing. Amen".

This short prayer can give strength and help make the right decision.

What does the icon look like?

This image of Jesus is the only one where the Savior is depicted in a portrait manner. On this icon, the Lord does not lead, does not indicate, does not instruct, and does not enlighten. He is simply present, remaining alone with everyone who comes to Him.

The Savior is depicted with a direct look directed into the eyes of everyone who appeared before Him. His hair and beard are depicted as wet, conveying the story of the appearance of the miraculous icon.

Day of memory and veneration of the icon "Savior Not Made by Hands" - August 29 in a new style. At this time, prayers to the Savior can change fate and direct life in a different direction. We wish you peace in your soul and faith in God. Be happy and don't forget to press the buttons and

26.05.2017 06:01

Saint Melania is revered by women throughout the Orthodox world. The icon of this saint is able to save girls from trouble, ...

The icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands occupies a special place in icon painting, and extensive literature is devoted to it. Tradition says that the icon known to us is a hand-made copy of the miraculously found original. According to legend, in 544 AD. two miraculous images of Jesus were found in the gate niche of the wall of the city of Edessa. When the niche was opened, a candle was burning in it and there was a plate with a wonderful image, which at the same time turned out to be imprinted on the ceramic tile covering the niche. Thus, two versions of the image immediately arose: Mandylion (on the board) and Keramion (on the tile). In 944, Mandylion moved to Constantinople, and two decades later Keramion follows the same path. According to the testimonies of pilgrims, both relics were kept in vessels-arks suspended on chains in one of the naves of the Temple of Our Lady of Pharos, the Emperor's house church /1-4/. This famous church was also the site of other relics of comparable importance. The vessels were never opened and both relics were never displayed, but the lists began to appear and spread throughout the Christian world, gradually taking the form of the icon-painting canon known to us. After the sack of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204, the Mandylion supposedly ended up in Paris, was kept there until 1793 and disappeared during the French Revolution.

There are several versions of the legend about the original origin of the Mandylion. The most popular narrative in the Middle Ages is called epistula Avgari in scientific literature and can be found in full in /4, 5/. The King of Edessa, sick with leprosy, sent a letter to Jesus asking him to come and heal him. Jesus responded with a letter, which later became widely known as a relic in its own right, but did not heal Abgar. Then Abgar sent an artist servant to paint the image of Jesus and bring it with him. The visiting servant found Jesus in Jerusalem and tried to draw him. Seeing the failure of his attempts, Jesus asked for water. He washed and dried himself with a handkerchief, on which His face was miraculously imprinted. The servant took the board with him and, according to some versions of the story, the Apostle Thaddeus went with him. Passing by the city of Hierapolis, the servant hid the cloths in a pile of tiles for the night. A miracle happened at night and the image of the board was imprinted on one of the tiles. The servant left this tile in Hierapolis. Thus, a second Keramion appeared - Hierapolis, which also ended up in Constantinople, but was of less importance than Edessa. At the end of the story, the servant returns to Edessa, and Avgar is healed by touching the miraculous towel. Avgar placed the board in the gate niche for general worship. During the times of persecution, the relic was walled up in a niche for the sake of safety, and it was forgotten for several centuries.

The story of St. Mandylion is often confused with the story of Veronica's plate, a separate relic kept in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and belonging to the Western tradition. According to legend, on the day of the crucifixion, St. Veronica gave a towel to Jesus, who was exhausted under the weight of his cross, and he wiped his face with it, imprinted on the towel. Some believe that this is the story of the emergence of the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands, i.e. Mandylion, but this is a completely independent relic, an independent narration and an independent image, which has other typical features. On most icon-painting versions of the board of Veronica, the eyes of Jesus are closed and the facial features are different than on the Mandylion. His head is crowned with a crown of thorns, which is consistent with the situation of the story. On the Mandylion, the eyes are open, there is no crown of thorns, Jesus' hair and beard are wet, which is consistent with the story of Abgar's servant, in which Jesus dries himself with a towel after washing. The cult of Veronica's board arose relatively late, around the 12th century. Some famous icons associated with this cult are actually versions of St. Mandylion and are of Byzantine or Slavic origin /6, 7/.

In this essay, I reflect on the amazing charisma of this one-of-a-kind icon, trying to bring together and articulate the various aspects of its symbolic meaning and unravel the mystery of its attractive power.

THE FACE OF THE SAVIOR

The Savior Not Made by Hands is the only icon depicting Jesus simply as a person, as a person with a face. The remaining iconic images of Jesus show Him performing some action or contain indications of His attributes. Here He is sitting on the throne (which means He is the King), here He is blessing, here He is holding a book in His hands and points to the words written there. The plurality of images of Jesus is theologically correct, but it can hide the basic truth of Christianity: salvation comes precisely through the person of Jesus, through Jesus as such, and not through any of his individual actions or attributes. According to Christian teaching, the Lord sent us His Son as the only way to salvation. He Himself is the beginning and end of the path, alpha and omega. He saves us by the very fact of his eternal presence in the world. We follow him not because of any obligations or reasoning or customs, but because he calls us. We love him not for something, but simply for what he is, i.e. about the same as we love not always explained by the love of the chosen ones or the chosen ones of our hearts. It is this attitude towards Jesus, a highly personal attitude, that corresponds to the image depicted on the St. Mandylion.

This icon strongly and clearly expresses the very essence of the Christian life - the need for everyone to establish a personal relationship with God through Jesus. From this icon, Jesus looks at us like no other, which is facilitated by exaggeratedly large and slightly slanted eyes. This Jesus does not look at humanity in general, but at a specific viewer and expects an equally personal response. Having met His gaze, it is difficult to hide from ruthless thoughts about oneself and one's relationship with Him.

A portrait icon gives a much greater sense of direct contact than an icon with narrative content. If a narrative icon conveys a story, then a portrait icon expresses presence. The portrait icon does not divert attention to clothing, objects, or gestures. Jesus here does not bless or offer verbal formulas of salvation to hide behind. He offers only Himself. He is the Way and the Salvation. The rest of the icons are about Him, but here He is.

PHOTO PORTRAIT

St. Mandylion is a one-of-a-kind ‘photo portrait’ of Jesus. This is actually not a drawing, but a face print, a photograph in the direct material sense. Being a stylistically neutral depiction of a face as such, our icon has something in common with the genre of passport photo, which is not too honorable, but absolutely necessary and widespread in our life. Just like in passport photos, it is the face that is depicted here, and not the character or thoughts. This is just a portrait, not a psychological portrait.

The usual photographic portrait depicts the person himself, and not his vision by the artist. If the artist replaces the original with an image that corresponds to his subjective vision, then the portrait photo captures the original as it is physically. Same with this icon. Jesus is not interpreted here, not transformed, not deified and not comprehended - He is as He is. Recall that God in the Bible is repeatedly referred to as "existing" and says about himself that He "is what He is."

SYMMETRY

Among other iconic images, the Savior Not Made by Hands is unique in its symmetry. On most versions, the Face of Jesus is almost completely mirror-symmetrical, with the exception of the slanted eyes, the movement of which gives life to the face and spiritualizes it / 8 /. This symmetry reflects, in particular, a fundamentally important fact of creation - the mirror symmetry of the human appearance. Many other elements of God's creation (animals, elements of plants, molecules, crystals) are also symmetrical. Space, the main arena of creation, is itself highly symmetrical. An Orthodox church is also symmetrical, and the Image Not Made by Hands often occupies a place in it on the main plane of symmetry, linking the symmetry of architecture with the asymmetry of icon painting. He, as it were, attaches to the walls a carpet of temple paintings and icons, dynamic in its diversity and brilliance.

Since, according to the Bible, man is created in the image and likeness of God, it can be assumed that symmetry is one of the attributes of God. The Savior Not Made by Hands thus expresses the symmetry of God, creation, man and temple space.

GENIUS OF PURE BEAUTY

In the 12th-century Novgorod icon from the Tretyakov Gallery (the oldest Russian icon of the Savior) shown in the title, the Holy Face expresses the Late Antique ideal of beauty. Symmetry is just one aspect of this ideal. The facial features of Jesus do not express pain and suffering. This ideal image is free from passions and emotions. It sees heavenly calm and peace, sublimity and purity. This combination of aesthetic and spiritual, beautiful and Divine, which is just as strongly expressed in the icons of the Mother of God, reminds us that beauty will save the world.

The type of face of Jesus is close to that which is called “heroic” in Hellenistic art and has common features with late antique images of Zeus / 9 /. This ideal Face expresses the union in the single person of Jesus of two natures - Divine and human, and was used in that era on other icons of Christ.

THE CIRCLE IS COMPLETING

The Savior Not Made by Hands is the only icon in which the halo has the shape of a completely closed circle. The circle expresses the perfection and harmony of the world order. The position of the face in the center of the circle expresses the completeness and completeness of the act of salvation of mankind performed by Jesus and His central role in the universe.

The image of the head in a circle also reminds of the head of John the Baptist laid on the dish, who preceded the way of the cross of Jesus with his suffering. The image of a head on a round dish also has obvious Eucharistic associations. The round halo containing the face of Jesus is symbolically repeated in the round prosphora containing His body.

CIRCLE AND SQUARE

On the Novgorod icon, the circle is inscribed in a square. An opinion was expressed that the geometric nature of this icon creates an image of the paradox of the Incarnation through the idea of squaring the circle, i.e. as a combination of incompatible /10/. The circle and the square symbolically depict Heaven and Earth. According to the cosmogony of the ancients, the Earth is a flat square, and the Sky is a sphere along which the Moon, the Sun and the planets circulate, i.e. the world of the Divine. This symbolism can be found in the architecture of any temple: the square or rectangular floor symbolically corresponds to the Earth, and the vault or dome of the ceiling to Heaven. Therefore, the combination of a square and a circle is a fundamental archetype that expresses the structure of the Cosmos and has a special meaning in this case, since Christ, having incarnated, united Heaven and Earth. It is interesting that a circle inscribed in a square (as well as a square inscribed in a circle), as a symbolic representation of the structure of the Universe, is used in the mandala, the main icon of Tibetan Buddhism. The motif of a square inscribed in a circle can also be seen in the icon of the Savior in the drawing of a crossed halo.

FACE AND CROSS

The cross halo is a canonical element of almost all the main types of Jesus icons. From the point of view of a modern viewer, the combination of a head with a cross looks like an element of a crucifixion. In fact, the imposition of a face on a cruciform motif rather reflects the end result of a kind of competition between the images of the cross and the Face of Jesus for the right to serve as the state emblem of the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine made the cross the main symbol of his power and the imperial standard. Icons of Christ have replaced the cross in state images since the 6th century. The first combination of the cross with the icon of Jesus were, apparently, round images of Jesus, attached to military cross-standards, just as portraits of the emperor were attached to the same standards /11/. Thus, the combination of Jesus with the cross indicated rather His authority than the role of the Victim /9 (see ch.6)/. It is not surprising that an identical cross-haired halo is also present on the icon of Christ the Almighty, in which the role of Christ as Lord is emphasized especially clearly.

The letters depicted in the three crossbeams convey the transcription of the Greek word "o-omega-n", meaning "existing", i.e. the so-called heavenly name of God, which is pronounced as “he-on”, where “he” is the article.

‘AZ AM THE DOOR’

The icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands is often placed above the entrance to a sacred room or space. Let us remember that it was found in a niche above the gates of the city of Edessa. In Russia, it was also often placed above the gates of cities or monasteries, as well as in temples above the entrance doors or above the royal gates of altars. At the same time, the sacredness of the space protected by the icon is emphasized, which is thus likened to the God-protected city of Edessa / 1 /.

There is another aspect here as well. Emphasizing that the way to God lies only through Him, Jesus calls himself a door, an entrance (John 10:7,9). Since the sacred space is associated with the Kingdom of Heaven, passing under the icon to the temple or altar, we symbolically do what the Gospel invites us to, i.e. We pass through Jesus into the Kingdom of Heaven.

HEAD AND BODY

St. Mandylion is the only icon that depicts only the head of Jesus, even without the shoulders. The incorporeality of the face speaks of the primacy of the spirit over the body and gives rise to multiple associations. The head without a body recalls the earthly death of Jesus and creates the image of the Sacrifice, both in the sense of his crucifixion and in the sense of the Eucharistic associations discussed above. The image of one Face corresponds to the Orthodox theology of the icon, according to which the icons depict a person, and not human nature /12/.

The image of the head also recalls the image of Christ as the Head of the Church (Eph. 1:22,23). If Jesus is the Head of the Church, then the believers are her body. The image of the Face continues downward with expanding lines of wet hair. Continuing down into the space of the temple, these lines, as it were, embrace the believers, who thereby become the Body, expressing the fullness of church existence. On the Novgorod icon, the direction of the hair is emphasized by sharply drawn white lines separating individual strands.

WHAT ST. MANDYLION?

Judging by historical evidence, the Edessa Mandylion was an image on a board stretched over a small board and kept in a closed casket /2/. Probably there was a gold salary, which left open only the face, beard and hair. The Bishop of Samosata, who was instructed to bring St. Mandylion from Edessa, had to choose the original from among four applicants. This suggests that already in Edessa, copies of the Mandylion were made, which were also images on a fabric basis stretched onto a board. These copies apparently served as the beginning of the tradition of images of the Image Not Made by Hands, since there is no information about copying the Mandylion in Constantinople. Since icons in general are usually painted on a fabric basis (lining) stretched over a board, St. Mandylion is a proto-icon, the prototype of all icons. Of the surviving images, the closest to the original are considered to be several icons of Byzantine origin that have survived in Italy, the dating of which is disputed. On these icons, the Holy Face has natural dimensions, the facial features are oriental (Syro-Palestinian) /13/.

TABLET OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The significance of the Mandylion in Byzantium was comparable to that of the Tablets of the Covenant in ancient Israel. The tablets were the central relic of the Old Testament tradition. The commandments were inscribed on them by God himself, which constituted the main content of the Old Testament. The presence of the Tablets in the Tabernacle and the Temple confirmed the authenticity of the Divine origin of the commandments. Since the main thing in the New Testament is Christ Himself, then St. Mandylion is the tablet of the New Testament, its visible God-given image. This motive is clearly heard in the official Byzantine narrative about the history of the Mandylion, in which the story of its transfer to Constantinople is consonant with the Biblical story of the transfer of the tablets to Jerusalem by David /14/. Like the tablets, the Mandylion has never been displayed. Even the emperors, worshiping the Mandylion, kissed the closed casket. As the tablet of the New Testament, St. Mandylion became the central relic of the Byzantine Empire.

ICON AND RELICIO

Byzantine piety strove for a synthesis of icons and relics /15/. Icons often arose as a result of the desire to “multiply” the relic, to consecrate the entire Christian world with it, and not just a small part of the space. The Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands reminded not only of the reality of the Savior's earthly life, but also of the reality and authenticity of the Holy Plat itself. The connection with the relic is indicated by the folds of matter depicted on many versions of the icon of St. Mandylion. The same face is depicted on the icons of St. Keramion, but the background has the texture of a tile.

However, the direct connection with the relic was not always emphasized. On the icon presented in the title, the Face is depicted on a uniform golden background, symbolizing the Divine Light. In this way, the effect of the presence of Jesus is enhanced, His divinity and the fact of the Incarnation are emphasized, as well as the fact that the source of salvation is Jesus himself, and not a relic. Wolf /10/ points to the "monumentalization" of the Face, freed from the fabric base, its movement from matter to the sphere of spiritual contemplation. It was also hypothesized that the gold background of the Novgorod icon copies the gold setting of the prototype icon /16/. The Novgorod icon was a processional, portable, which explains its large size (70x80cm). Since the size of the Face is larger than a human face, this image could not claim to be a direct copy of St. Mandylion and served as his symbolic substitute in the services of Holy Week and the feast of the icon on August 16.

Interestingly, the reverse side of the Novgorod Mandylion just illustrates the use of icons for the "propagation" of relics. It presents the scene of the Adoration of the Cross /17/, containing the image of all the main passionate relics from the Church of Our Lady of Pharos (crown of thorns, sponge, spear, etc. /4/). Since in ancient times the image was considered as a substitute for the image, our icon created in the space of the Novgorod temple a kind of equivalent to the Church of Our Lady of Pharos - the main temple-reliquary of Byzantium.

INcarnation and Sanctification of Matter

The Incarnation is unanimously recognized as the key theme of the Mandylion. Although the appearance of Christ in the material world is the theme of any icon, the story of the miraculous display of the Face of Christ on the board not only confirms the doctrine of the Incarnation with particular clarity, but also creates an image of the continuation of this process after the earthly death of Jesus. Leaving the world, Christ leaves his “imprints” on the souls of believers. Just as the Holy Mandylion passed from board to tile by the power of the Holy Spirit, the image of God is also transmitted from heart to heart by the same power. In church icon painting, Mandylion and Keramion are sometimes placed opposite each other at the base of the dome, which recreates the situation of miraculous reproduction of the image /1/.

St. Mandylion occupies a special place among both icons and relics. Many relics are ordinary items, unique due to their proximity to the Divine (for example, the girdle of Our Lady). Mandylion, on the other hand, was matter directly changed by purposeful Divine influence and can be considered as a prototype of the transformed materiality of the future age. The reality of the transformation of the fabric of the Mandylion confirms the real possibility of deification of a person already in this world and portends his transformation in the future, and not in the form of a disembodied soul, but as a renewed materiality, in which the Image of God will “shine through” human nature in the same way as the Holy The face shines through the fabric of the Mandylion.

The image of fabric on the icons of the Savior Not Made by Hands has a deeper meaning than just an illustration of the naturalness of St. Plat. Plat fabric is an image of the material world, already sanctified by the presence of Christ, but still waiting for the coming deification. This is a multi-valued image that reflects both the potential deification of the matter of our world today (as in the Eucharist), and its future full deification. The Plata fabric also denotes the person himself, in whom Christ has the power to reveal his image. The Eucharistic meaning of the Mandylion is also connected with this circle of images. The image of the Holy Face appearing on the Mandylion is similar to the Body of Christ ontologically existing in the Eucharistic bread. The image not made by hands does not illustrate, but complements the sacrament: what is not visible in the Eucharist is accessible to contemplation on the icon. It is not surprising that St. Mandylion was widely used in the iconographic programs of the altars /18,19/.

The question of the nature of the Mandylion, like the paradox of the Incarnation itself, is difficult to rationalize. Mandylion is not an illustration of the Incarnation, but a living example of the incarnation of the Divine into the material. How to understand the holiness of the Mandylion? Is it only the image itself that is holy, or is the material also holy? In Byzantium in the 12th century, serious theological debate took place on this topic. The discussion ended with an official statement about the sanctity of only the image, although the practice of venerating this and other relics rather indicates the opposite.

BANNER OF ICON WORSHIP

If the pagans worshiped "Gods made by men" (Acts, 19:26), then Christians could oppose this Image Not Made by Hands, as a material image made by God. The creation of Jesus' own image was the strongest argument in favor of icon veneration. The icon of the Savior occupies a place of honor in the iconographic programs of Byzantine churches shortly after the victory over iconoclasm.

The legend of Abgar deserves careful reading, as it contains theologically significant ideas related to icon veneration:

(1) Jesus wanted to have a picture of himself;

(2) He sent His image instead of Himself, thereby confirming the legitimacy of honoring the image as His representative;

(3) He sent the image in response to Abgar's request for healing, which directly confirms the miraculous nature of the icon, as well as the potential healing power of other contact relics.

(4) The letter sent earlier does not heal Abgar, which is consistent with the fact that copies of sacred texts, despite the practice of worshiping them, as a rule do not play the role of miraculous relics in the Orthodox tradition.

In the legend of Abgar, the role of the artist is also noteworthy, who turns out to be unable to draw Christ on his own, but brings to the customer an image drawn according to the Divine will. This emphasizes that the icon painter is not an artist in the usual sense, but the executor of God's plan.

NON-MADE IMAGE IN Rus'

The veneration of the Image Not Made by Hands came to Rus' in the 11th-12th centuries and spread especially widely starting from the second half of the 14th century. In 1355, the newly appointed Moscow Metropolitan Alexy brought from Constantinople a list of St. Mandylion, for which a reliquary temple was immediately laid /7/. The veneration of the copies of St. Mandylion was introduced as a state cult: churches, monasteries and temple chapels dedicated to the Image Not Made by Hands and called "Spassky" began to appear throughout the country. Before the icon of the Savior, Dmitry Donskoy, a pupil of Metropolitan Alexy, prayed, having received news of the attack by Mamai. The banner with the icon of the Savior accompanied the Russian army on campaigns from the Battle of Kulikovo until the First World War. These banners begin to be called "signs" or "banners"; the word "banner" replaces the old Russian "banner". Icons of the Savior are placed on the fortress towers. As well as in Byzantium, the Savior Not Made by Hands becomes the talisman of the city and the country. Images for home use are distributed, as well as miniature images of the Savior used as amulets /20/. Church buildings in book illustrations and icons begin to be depicted with the icon of the Savior above the entrance as a designation of the Christian church. The Savior becomes one of the central images of Russian Orthodoxy close in meaning and meaning to the cross and crucifixion.

It is possible that Metropolitan Alexy himself was the initiator of the use of the Non-Material Image in iconostases, which acquire a close to modern look precisely in this era /7/. In this regard, a new type of huge icons of the Savior arose with a face size much larger than natural. The Holy Face on these icons acquires the features of Heavenly Jesus, Christ the judge of the Last Day /21/, which was in tune with the expectations of the near end of the world widespread in that era. This theme was also present in Western Christianity of that time. Dante in the Divine Comedy used the iconography of the Holy Face to describe the vision of the Deity on the Day of Judgment /7/.

The image of the Savior acquired new shades of meaning in the context of the ideas of hesychasm. The images of the Mandylion, especially on large icons, seem to be "charged" with uncreated energy, radiate unearthly power. It is no coincidence that in one of the stories about Mandylion the image itself becomes a source of uncreated Light, similar to Tabor /14/. A new interpretation of the theme of the transfiguring light of Tabor appears on the icons of Simon Ushakov (17th century), on which the Holy Face itself becomes a source of unearthly radiance /22/.

SERVICE ICON

The general church nature of the worship of St. Mandylion was expressed in the existence of the feast of the icon on August 16, the day the relic was transferred from Edessa to Constantinople. On this day, special biblical readings and stichera are read, expressing theological ideas associated with the icon /12/. The stichera for the feast conveys the above-mentioned legend about Abgar. The Bible readings set out the most important stages in the history of the Incarnation. The Old Testament readings recall the impossibility of depicting God who remained invisible, while the Gospel readings contain the key phrase for the theology of Mandylion: “And turning to the disciples, he said to them especially: blessed are the eyes that have seen what you see!” (Luke 10:23).

There is also a canon of the miraculous image, the authorship of which is attributed to St. Herman of Constantinople /12/.

LITERATURE

/1/ A. M. Lidov. Hierotopy. Spatial Icons and Paradigm Images in Byzantine Culture. M. Feoriya. 2009. The chapters "Mandylion and Keramion" and "Holy Face - Holy Letter - Holy Gates", p. 111-162.

/2/ A. M. Lidov. Holy Mandylion. History of the relic. In the book "The Savior Not Made by Hands in the Russian Icon". M. 2008, p. 12-39.

/3/ Robert de Clary. Conquest of Constantinople. M. 1986. p. 59-60.

/4/ Relics in Byzantium and Ancient Rus'. Written sources (editor-compiler A.M. Lidov). M. Progress-Tradition, 2006. Part 5. Relics of Constantinople, pp.167-246. The text of the epistula Avgari can be found in Part 7. p. 296-300.

/5/E. Meshcherskaya. Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. New Testament Apocrypha in Syriac Literature. M. Pristels, 1997. 455 p. See the chapter "Old Russian version of the legend of Avgar according to a manuscript of the 13th century",

http://www.gumer.info/bogoslov_Buks/apokrif/Avgar_Russ.php. This version of Epistula Avgari was popular in medieval Russia.

/6/ In Rome there were several ancient images of Christ of Byzantine origin, including several copies of St. Mandylion. According to L. M. Evseeva /7/ their images converged and by the 15th century the well-known image of Christ from Veronica's Plage with long symmetrical strands of hair and a short slightly forked beard was formed, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_Veronica

This iconographic type also influenced later Russian icons of the Savior. It is also suggested that the name "Veronica" comes from "vera icona" (true image): originally the Roman lists of St. Mandylion were called that, then the legend of Veronica arose and the Plate of Veronica itself appeared, the first reliable information about which dates back to 1199.

/7/ L.M. Evseeva. The image of Christ not made by hands” by Metropolitan Alexy (1354-1378) in the context of the eschatological ideas of the time. In the book "The Savior Not Made by Hands in the Russian Icon". M. 2008, pp. 61-81.

/ 8 / On many icons of the Savior (including the Novgorod icon in the illustration), one can notice a slight intentional asymmetry of the face, which, as shown by N. B. Teteryatnikova, contributes to the “revival” of the icon: the face, as it were, “turns” towards the viewer looking on the icon at an angle. N. Teteriatnikov. Animated icons on interactive display: the case of Hagia Sophia, Constantinople. In the book Spatial Icons. Performative in Byzantium and Ancient Rus'”, ed.-comp. A.M. Lidov, M. Indrik, 2011, pp. 247-274.

/9/ H. Belting. likeness and presence. A history of image before the era of art. Ch.11. The Holy Face. The University of Chicago Press, 1992.

/10/ G. Wolf. Holy face and holy feet: preliminary reflections before the Novgorod Mandylion. From the collection "Eastern Christian Relics", ed.-comp. A.M. Leads. M. 2003, 281-290.

/11/ There are few crosses with portraits of emperors. The earliest example is a 10th-century cross with a portrait of Emperor Augustus kept in the treasury of the Aachen Cathedral and used in the coronation ceremonies of the emperors of the Carolingian dynasty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_of_Lothair

/12/ L.I. Uspensky. Theology icons of the Orthodox Church. M. 2008. Ch. 8 Iconoclastic Teaching and the Church's Response to It, p. 87-112.

/13/ See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Holy_Face_-_Genoa.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:39bMandylion.jpg

/14/ The Tale of the Transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands from Edessa to Constantinople. In the book "The Savior Not Made by Hands in the Russian Icon". M. 2008, pp. 415-429. Interestingly, in another Byzantine work, a set of passionate relics kept in the Church of Our Lady of Pharos is compared with the Decalogue (ten commandments).

/15/ I. Shalina. The icon "Christ in the tomb" and the miraculous image on the Shroud of Constantinople. From the collection "Eastern Christian Relics", ed.-comp. A.M. Leads. M. 2003, p. 305-336. http://nesusvet.narod.ru/ico/books/tourin/

/16/ I.A. Sterligova. Precious decoration of ancient Russian icons of the 11th-14th centuries. M. 2000, p. 136-138.s.

/17/ The reverse side of the Novgorod Mandylion:

http://all-photo.ru/icon/index.ru.html?big=on&img=28485

/18/Sh. Gerstel. Miraculous Mandylion. The Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in Byzantine Iconographic Programs. From the collection "The Miraculous Icon in Byzantium and Ancient Rus'", ed.-comp. A.M. Leads. M. "Martis", 1996. S. 76-89.

http://nesusvet.narod.ru/ico/books/gerstel.htm.

/19/M. Emanuel. The Savior Not Made by Hands in the Iconographic Programs of the Churches of Mistra. From the collection "Eastern Christian Relics", ed.-comp. A.M. Leads. M. 2003, p. 291-304.

/20/A. V. Ryndina. Reliquary image. Spas Not Made by Hands in Small Forms of Russian Art XIV-XVI. From the collection "Eastern Christian Relics", ed.-comp. A.M. Leads. M. 2003, p. 569-585.

/21/ For an example of such iconography, see

http://www.icon-art.info/masterpiece.php?lng=ru&mst_id=719

/ 22 / The image of the Savior was for Ushakov the main, program and was repeated by him many times. Unlike ancient icons, where the Divine light is transmitted by the background and spread over the entire plane of the icon, Ushakov’s “uncreated light” shines through the face itself. Ushakov strove to combine the Orthodox principles of icon painting with new techniques that would render the Holy Face “light, ruddy, tenno, tenno and lifelike”. The new style was approvingly received by the majority of contemporaries, but it drew criticism from zealots of antiquity, who called Ushakov's Savior "a puffy German." Many believe that Ushakov's "light-like" faces convey a physical, created, rather than uncreated light, and that this style meant the collapse of the Byzantine icon image and its replacement with the aesthetics of Western art, in which the beautiful takes the place of the sublime.

http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/ru/collection/_show/image/_id/2930#

Origin

There are two groups of legends about the origin of the relic, which served as a source of iconography, each of which reports its miraculous origin.

Reconstruction of the Constantinople Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands

Eastern version of the legend

The eastern version of the legend about the Image Not Made by Hands can be traced in Syrian sources from the 4th century. The miraculous image of Christ was captured for the king of Edessa (Mesopotamia, the modern city of Sanliurfa, Turkey) on Augar V Ukkama after the artist sent by him failed to depict Christ: Christ washed his face, wiped it with a scarf (brus), on which an imprint remained, and gave it to the artist. Thus, according to legend, the Mandylion became the first icon in history.

A linen kerchief with the image of Christ was kept in Edessa for a long time as the most important treasure of the city. During the period of iconoclasm, John of Damascus referred to the Image Not Made by Hands, and in 787 the Seventh Ecumenical Council, citing it as the most important evidence in favor of icon veneration. On August 29, 944, the image was redeemed from Edessa by Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus and solemnly transferred to Constantinople, this day entered the church calendar as a church holiday. The relic was stolen from Constantinople during the sack of the city by participants in the IV Crusade in 1204, after which it was lost (according to legend, the ship carrying the icon was wrecked).

The closest to the original image are the Mandylion from the temple of San Silvestro in Capite, now located in the Santa Matilda Chapel of the Vatican, and the Mandylion, since 1384, kept in the church of St. Bartholomew in Genoa. Both icons are painted on canvas, mounted on wooden bases, have the same format (approximately 29x40 cm) and are covered with a flat silver frame cut along the contours of the head, beard and hair. In addition, the folds of a triptych with the now lost centerpiece from the monastery of St. Catherine at Sinai. According to the most daring hypotheses, the “original” Savior Not Made by Hands, sent to Avgar, served as the middle man.

Western version of the legend

Holy Face of Manopello

The Western version of the legend arose from various sources from the 13th to the 15th century, most likely among the Franciscan monks. According to him, the pious Jewess Veronica, who accompanied Christ on His way of the cross to Golgotha, gave Him a linen handkerchief so that Christ could wipe blood and sweat from his face. The face of Jesus was imprinted on a handkerchief. The relic called " veronica boards” is stored in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. Presumably, the name of Veronica at the mention of the Image Not Made by Hands arose as a distortion of the Latin. vera icons (true image). In Western iconography, a distinctive feature of the images of the "Veronica" is the crown of thorns on the head of the Savior.

In honor of the "Veronica's Board" at one time the now canceled constellation was called. On the scarf, through the light, you can see the image of the face of Jesus Christ. Attempts to examine the image have established that the image was not applied with paint or any known organic materials. At this time, scientists intend to continue research.

There are at least two "Veronica's Fee" known: 1. in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and 2. "Face from Manopello", which is also called the "Veil of Veronica", but there is no crown of thorns on it, the drawing is positive, the proportions of the parts of the face are violated (the lower eyelid of the left eye is very different from the right, etc. ), which allows us to conclude that this is a list from the "Savior Not Made by Hands" sent to Avgar, and not from the "Plata of Veronica".

Version of the connection of the image with the Shroud of Turin

There are theories linking the Savior's Image Not Made by Hands with another well-known common Christian relic - the Shroud of Turin. The Shroud is a full-length image of Christ on canvas. Exhibited in Edessa and Constantinople, the plat with the image of the face of the Savior, according to theories, could be a shroud folded several times, so the original icon could not have been lost during the Crusades, but taken to Europe and found in Turin. In addition, one of the versions of the Image Not Made by Hands is “ Savior Not Made by Hands - Do not cry for Me, Mother» ( Christ in the tomb) is elevated by researchers to the Shroud as a historical prototype.

Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands in Russian letter

First samples. The beginning of the Russian tradition

Icons of the Savior Not Made by Hands come to Rus', according to some sources, already in the 9th century. The oldest surviving icon of this iconographic type is the Novgorod Savior Not Made by Hands (second half of the 12th century). The following iconographic types of the Image Not Made by Hands can be distinguished: Spas on the edge" or simply " Ubrus", where the face of Christ is placed on the image of a board (ubrus) of a light shade and" Savior on the skull" or simply " Chrepie"(meaning" tile", "brick"), " Ceramide". According to legend, the image of Christ appeared on the tiles or bricks that hid the niche with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. Occasionally, on this type of icons, the background is an image of brick or tiled masonry, but more often the background is given simply in a darker (compared to the ubrus) color.

Of water

The most ancient images were made on a clean background, without any hint of matter or tiles. The image of an even rectangular or slightly curved ubrus as a background is already found on the fresco of the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa (Novgorod) of the late 12th century. Ubrus with folds began to spread from the second half of the 13th century, primarily in Byzantine and South Slavic icon painting, on Russian icons - from the 14th century. Since the 15th century, two angels can hold a draped kerchief by the upper ends. In addition, various versions of the icon " Savior Not Made by Hands with deeds”, when the image of Christ in the middle of the icon is surrounded by hallmarks with the history of the image. From the end of the 17th century in Russian icon painting, under the influence of Catholic painting, images of Christ in the crown of thorns appear on the board, that is, in iconography " Plath Veronica". Images of the Savior with a wedge-shaped beard (converging to one or two narrow ends) are also known in Byzantine sources, however, only on Russian soil did they take shape in a separate iconographic type and received the name " Saved Wet Brada».

In the collection of the State Museum of Arts of Georgia there is an encaustic icon of the 7th century, called " Anchiskhat Spas”, representing Christ in the chest and considered the “original” Edessa icon.

The Christian tradition considers the Image of Christ not made by hands as one of the proofs of the truth of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity in the human image, and in a narrower sense - as the most important evidence in favor of icon veneration.

According to tradition, the icon "Savior Not Made by Hands" is the first independent image that is entrusted to be painted by an icon painter who has passed his apprenticeship.

Various images of the Savior

Vyatka Savior Not Made by Hands

Until 1917, a list from the miraculous Vyatka Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands hung from the inside over the Spassky Gates of the Moscow Kremlin. The icon itself was brought from Khlynov (Vyatka) and left in Moscow's Novospassky Monastery in 1647. The exact list was sent to Khlynov, and the second one was installed over the gates of the Frolovskaya Tower. In honor of the image of the Savior and the fresco of the Savior of Smolensk on the outside, the gate through which the icon was delivered and the tower itself were called Spassky.

A distinctive feature of the Vyatka Savior Not Made by Hands is the image of angels standing on the sides, the figures of which are not fully spelled out. Angels do not stand on clouds, but seem to soar in the air. It is possible to single out the idiosyncratic features of the face of Christ. A slightly elongated face with a high forehead is depicted frontally on a vertically hanging panel with wavy folds. It is inscribed in the plane of the icon board in such a way that large eyes, endowed with great expressiveness, become the center of the composition. Christ's gaze is directed directly at the viewer, eyebrows are raised high. Lush hair falls in long strands flying off to the side, three on the left and on the right. The short beard is divided into two parts. Strands of hair and beard go beyond the circumference of the halo. The eyes are written lightly and transparently, their look has the appeal of a real look. The face of Christ expresses calmness, mercy and meekness.

After 1917, the original icon in the Novospassky Monastery and the list above the Spassky Gates were lost. Now the monastery keeps a copy of the 19th century, which takes the place of the original in the iconostasis of the Transfiguration Cathedral. The list left in Vyatka was kept until 1929, after which it was also lost.

In June 2010, with the help of Galina Alekseevna Mokhova, a researcher at the Vyatka Art Museum, it was established how the miraculous Vyatka icon looked exactly, after which a new exact list of the Savior Not Made by Hands was written and sent to Kirov (Vyatka) at the end of August for installation in the Spassky Cathedral.

Kharkiv Savior Not Made by Hands

Main article: Spas Updated

Historical facts

A copy of the ancient miraculous Vologda Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands was carried by the All-Russian Emperor Alexander III during the train crash near the Borki station. Almost immediately after the miraculous salvation, by decree of the Ruling Synod, a special prayer service was compiled and published in honor of the miraculous image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Notes

Links

Hegumen Innokenty (Erokhin). The Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands as the Basis for Icon Painting and Icon Worship on the website of the Vladivostok diocese
Sharon Gerstel. Miraculous Mandylion. The Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands in Byzantine Iconographic Programs
Irina Shalina. The icon "Christ in the tomb" and the miraculous image on the Shroud of Constantinople
Military relics: Banners with the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands

Ancient Russian icons
Greek (Korsun)	Our Lady of Vladimir Smolensk Mother of God 1 Savior Golden Robe Peter and Paul Saint George

They say that this happened during the earthly life of the Savior. The ruler of the city of Edessa, Prince Avgar, was seriously ill. Having heard about the countless healings that Jesus Christ performed, Abgar wanted to look at the Savior. He sent a painter to paint the face of Christ.

However, the artist could not fulfill the order. Such radiance emanated from the face of the Lord that the master's brush could not convey His Light. Then the Lord, having washed himself, wiped His immaculate face with a towel, and His Image miraculously appeared on it. Having received the Image, Avgar was healed of his illness.

The icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands on the front side of the reliquary is the greatest shrine of the Christian world,
lost in 1204 during the sack of Constantinople by the crusaders.
According to Tradition, it miraculously imprinted on a piece of cloth with which the Lord wiped his face after washing. Jesus Christ gave His image to the servant of the king of Edessa, Abgar, who was ill with leprosy. The image healed the king and made him a Christian. The miracle of healing in a way not made by hands was the first, performed not by the Lord Himself, but by His image. It became a sign of the holiness of the images of the Church, the miraculousness of Her icons. According to tradition, the icon "The Savior Not Made by Hands" is the first of the images that is entrusted to be painted by an icon painter who has passed his apprenticeship.

Sometimes this image, like a number of others, is called the Golden-Haired Savior (Spas Golden Hair), since Christ's hair is lined with golden lines. The halo is in the form of a cross and occupies almost the entire field of the icon. Christ's gaze is turned to the left. In the upper corners of the mullion there is an inscription: IC XC.

The miraculous Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, located in the Novospassky Monastery, constituting its main shrine, was, at the same time, an all-Russian church treasure, deeply revered by the Orthodox Russian people.

In the West, the legend of the Savior Not Made by Hands has spread as a legend about the Payment of St. Veronica. According to one of them, Veronica was a student of the Savior, but she could not accompany him all the time, then she decided to order a portrait of the Savior to the painter. But on the way to the artist, she met the Savior, who miraculously imprinted his face on her board. Veronica's robe was endowed with the power of healing. With its help, the Roman emperor Tiberius was cured. Later, another option appears. When Christ was led to Golgotha, Veronica wiped the face of Jesus, covered with sweat and blood, with a cloth, and it was displayed on the matter. This moment is included in the Catholic cycle of the Passion of the Lord. The face of Christ in a similar version is written in a crown of thorns and with dripping drops of blood.

In the Orthodox Church, the glorification of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands spread in the 10th century, after the payment with the face of the Savior was transferred from Edessa to Constantinople in 944. In Ancient Rus', the Savior Not Made by Hands is known in temple paintings of the XII century of the Spaso-Mirozh Cathedral of 1156. and the Savior on Nereditsa in 1199.

During the time of the iconoclastic heresy, the defenders of icon veneration, shedding blood for the holy icons, sang a troparion to the Image Not Made by Hands. As proof of the truth of icon veneration, Pope Gregory II (715-731) sent a letter to the Eastern emperor, in which he pointed to the healing of King Abgar and the stay of the Icon Not Made by Hands in Edessa as a well-known fact. The Icon Not Made by Hands was placed on the banners of the Russian troops, protecting them from enemies. In the Russian Orthodox Church, there is a pious custom at the entrance of a believer to the temple to read, along with other prayers, the troparion to the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

According to the Prologues, four Miraculous Images of the Savior are known:

1) In Edessa, King Abgar - August 16.

2) Camulian; its acquisition was described by St. Gregory of Nyssa (Comm. 10 January). According to St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer (1809; comm. 1 July), the Camulian icon appeared in 392, but he had in mind the image of the Mother of God on 9 August.

3) Under the emperor Tiberius (578-582), from whom Saint Mary Synclitikia received healing (Comm. 11 August).

4) On ceramics - August 16.

The feast in honor of the transfer of the Image Not Made by Hands, which takes place on the afterfeast of the Assumption, is called the third Savior, "The Savior on Canvas." The special veneration of this holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church was also expressed in icon painting. The Icon of the Image Not Made by Hands is one of the most widespread.

Miracles of the holy icon of the Savior.

The first miracle, which marked the beginning of the all-Russian glorification of the holy icon of the Savior, was revealed from it on July 12, 1645 in the city of Khlynov (Vyatka) in the Church of the All-Merciful Savior. Historical church documents certify that a resident of the city, Peter Palkin, who suffered from complete blindness for three years, after praying before the icon of the Savior, was healed and received his sight. After that, miraculous miracles from the image began to be performed one after another, and the fame of the miraculous image quickly spread throughout the Russian Land. Hearing about the extraordinary miracles from the icon, the then pious sovereign Alesei Mikhailovich, on the advice of Archimandrite Nikon, later Patriarch, who was the rector of the Novospassky Monastery, decided to transfer the icon to the Mother See of Moscow. In fulfillment of the royal will, with the blessing of Patriarch Joseph, an embassy was sent to the city of Khlynov for the holy icon, headed by Abbot Pafnutiy of the Moscow Epiphany Monastery.

On January 14, 1647, literally all of Moscow came out to meet the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands. The meeting took place at the Yauza Gate. As soon as the icon became visible to the people, bells rang out in all Moscow churches, everyone knelt down, and a thanksgiving service began. At the end of the prayer service, the miraculous image was transferred to the Kremlin and placed in the Assumption Cathedral. The gates to the Kremlin, through which the image was brought in, were called Frolovsky until that time, it was ordered to continue to be called Spassky. In addition, the royal decree followed that everyone take off their hats when passing through the gates.

The icon remained in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin until the reconstruction of the Transfiguration Cathedral in the Novospassky Monastery was completed. As soon as the day of the consecration of the cathedral was appointed, September 19, 1647, the icon was solemnly transferred to the monastery in a procession.

In 1670, the image of the Savior was given to help Prince Yuri, who was going to the Don to pacify the rebellion of Stepan Razin. The rebellion was suppressed, and by royal command, the image was decorated with a gilded riza studded with diamonds, yahonts and large pearls.

On August 13, 1834, a terrible fire broke out in Moscow. At the request of the inhabitants, a miraculous image of the Savior was brought from the Novospassky Monastery, which they began to wear around the conflagration. In front of everyone's eyes, the fire, as if by an invisible force, was kept from spreading beyond the line where the icon was carried. Soon the wind died down and the fire stopped. Since then, the image began to be taken out for serving prayers at home. During the cholera that raged in Moscow in 1848, many patients received miraculous help from the icon.

In 1839, the icon was decorated with a gilded silver riza with precious stones to replace the one stolen by the French in 1812. In the summer, the image was in the Transfiguration Cathedral, and in the winter it was transferred to the Intercession Church. In the Nikolsky and Catherine's churches of the monastery there were exact copies from the miraculous image.

Until 1917, the icon was in the monastery. The whereabouts of this holy image is currently unknown. In the Novospassky Monastery there is a preserved copy of the miraculous icon. He stays in the local row of the iconostasis of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Savior - where the miraculous icon itself was previously placed.

“The Savior left us His holy image according to Himself, so that we, looking at him, would constantly remember his incarnation, suffering, life-giving death and the redemption of the human race,” it was said at the VI Ecumenical Council.

Iconography of the image of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

The Savior Not Made by Hands is a special type of image of Christ, representing His face on an ubrus (board) or a shard (tile). According to the Orthodox iconographic canon, the Savior Not Made by Hands is written in the form of a middle-aged man, in the words of the icon-painting original: “perfect in the form of a husband,” which corresponds to the fifth week (from 28 to 35 years) of the Old Russian calculation of human life. The icon "The Savior Not Made by Hands" depicts only the Divine face of the Savior. Moreover, this image may be different. The face of the Lord is either simply inscribed in a halo, or depicted on an ubrus, and sometimes angels hold the ubrus.

All these icons are painted from the “genuine original”. Christ is depicted with long dark hair, parted in the middle, and with a short beard. Generally speaking, it is customary to write both Christ's hair and beard wavy, but on Russian icons sometimes there are images with straight, as if wet hair.

Icons "The Savior Not Made by Hands" are usually divided into main types: "The Savior on the Ubrus" or simply "Ubrus", where the face of Christ is placed on the image of a board (ubrus) of a light shade and "The Savior on the Skull" or simply "The Savior", "Ceramide". According to legend, the image of Christ appeared on the tiles or bricks that hid the niche with the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. Occasionally, on this type of icons, the background is an image of brick or tiled masonry, but more often the background is given simply in a darker color compared to Ubrus.

We magnify Thee, Life-Giver Christ, and honor all of Your Most Pure Face, the most glorious image.