One can easily tell when looking at that posting and then looking at today’s icon, that icons of the Izhe Kheruvimi (Izhe Kheruvimui) type are variable; they do not all have precisely the same form, though generally a number of common elements are included.
The title, of course, comes from the “Cherubic Hymn,” a standard part of the regular Russian Orthodox liturgy:
Иже херувимы тайно образующе, и Животворящей Троицѣ трисвятую пѣснь припѣвающе, Всякое нынѣ житейское отложимъ попеченіе. Яко да Царя всѣхъ подъимемъ, ангельскими невидимо дориносима чинми. Аллилуіа
“[We] who cherubim mystically represent And to the Life-bearing Trinity the “Thrice Holy” hymn sing, All cares of life let us now put aside So we may receive the Tsar of all, By invisible ranks of angels escorted. Alleluia.”
By now, if you are a long-time reader here, you will likely recognize the painting style as that of the “priested” Old Believers — particularly those in the community of Vyetka. Keep in mind that usually, the larger the number of figures painted on an icon, the higher the selling price was.
The Cathedral at Monreale in Sicily has an interesting mosaic made in the Byzantine manner sometime between the 12th and 13th centuries.
The Latin inscription tells us what is on the left side: HIC PETRUS ET PAULUS IN ROMA ANTE NERONEM DISPUTAVERUNT CUM SYMONE MAGO “HERE PETER AND PAUL IN ROME BEFORE NERO DISPUTED WITH SIMON MAGUS.”
At left are Paul and Peter, and between them and Nero is Simon Magus.
All that is told of Simon Magus in the New Testament is found in the book of Acts, where Simon is said to have practiced sorcery and influenced many people in Samaria. Simon was converted to Christianity by the preaching of the apostle Philip. Then Peter and John came to Samaria, and began to give people the Holy Spirit by laying hands on them. When Simon Magus saw this, he offered the two apostles money if they would give him the ability to transmit the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. The Apostles told him scornfully that the gift could not be purchased with money, and advised Simon to repent of his request. Simon then says, “Pray to the Lord for me, that none of these things you have spoken come upon me” — apparently repenting.
That means, of course, that the Monreale mosaic depicts an event not told of in the New Testament. So where did it come from?
As depicted in the mosaic, the tale used appears to be that found in The Acts of Peter and Paul, a tale written in the 5th century — so not biblical at all in the customary sense. But people in early times were very heavily influenced by fictional religious works not included in the Bible.
According to the Acts of Peter and Paul, both apostles appeared before Nero, arguing with Simon Magus:
“And on the following day Simon the Magian, and Peter and Paul the apostles of Christ, having come in to Nero, Simon said: These are the disciples of the Nazarene, and it is not at all well that they should be of the people of the Jews. Nero said: What is a Nazarene? Simon said: There is a city of Judah which has always been opposed to us, called Nazareth, and to it the teacher of these men belonged. Nero said: God commands us to love every man; why, then, do you persecute them? Simon said: This is a race of men who have turned aside all Judea from believing in me. Nero said to Peter: Why are you thus unbelieving, according to your race? Then Peter said to Simon: You have been able to impose upon all, but upon me never; and those who have been deceived, God has through me recalled from their error. And since you have learned by experience that you can not get the better of me, I wonder with what face you boast yourself before the emperor, and suppose that through your magic art you shall overcome the disciples of Christ. Nero said: Who is Christ? Peter said: He is what this Simon the Magician affirms himself to be; but this is a most wicked man, and his works are of the devil. But if you wish to know, O good emperor, the things that have been done in Judæa about Christ, take the writings of Pontius Pilate sent to Claudius, and thus you will know all. And Nero ordered them to be brought, and to be read in their presence ….”
On the right side is another scene derived from the Acts of Peter and Paul. The Latin inscription describes what is shown:
HIC PRECEPTO PETRI & ORATIONE PAULI SYMON MAGUS CECIDIT IN TERRAM.
“HERE AT THE COMMAND OF PETER AND PRAYER OF PAUL, SIMON MAGUS FELL TO THE EARTH.”
It is the account of Simon Magus flying:
“Then Simon went up upon the tower in the face of all, and, crowned with laurels, he stretched forth his hands, and began to fly. And when Nero saw him flying, he said to Peter: This Simon is true; but you and Paul are deceivers. To whom Peter said: Immediately shall you know that we are true disciples of Christ; but that he is not Christ, but a magician, and a malefactor. Nero said: Do you still persist? Behold, you see him going up into heaven. Then Peter, looking steadfastly upon Paul, said: Paul, look up and see. And Paul, having looked up, full of tears, and seeing Simon flying, said: Peter, why are you idle? Finish what you have begun; for already our Lord Jesus Christ is calling us. And Nero hearing them, smiled a little, and said: These men see themselves worsted already, and are gone mad. Peter said: Now you shall know that we are not mad.
Paul said to Peter: Do at once what you do.And Peter, looking steadfastly against Simon, said: I adjure you, you angels of Satan, who are carrying him into the air, to deceive the hearts of the unbelievers, by the God that created all things, and by Jesus Christ, whom on the third day He raised from the dead, no longer from this hour to keep him up, but to let him go. And immediately, being let go, he fell into a place called Sacra Via, that is, Holy Way, and was divided into four parts, having perished by an evil fate.”
That is what we see in the mosaic. In the background is the tower framework from which Simon rose into the air, and we see him above, suddenly dropped by the (supposedly invisible) devilish angels, and falling to earth.
So there you have it. The Simon Magus who apparently repented in the book of Acts is turned into an unrepentant deceiver by the writer of this bit of early Christian “fan fiction.” It is interesting and often surprising to see the great extent to which Christian art was influenced by apocryphal and pseudepigraphical writings outside the New Testament.
A reader recently inquired about an image on the northern altar door (“Deacon’s door”) of the Annunciation Cathedral ( Благовещенский собор) in Solvychegodsk (Сольвычегодск), Russia. You may recall that Solvychegodsk was the place where the famous Stroganov family that gave its name to the Stroganov School of icon painting began mining salt in the 16th century, and thus gained great wealth and status.
Here is an image of the door, with its three different icon types:
The top image is the Vision of Paul — Paul seeing the Heavenly Jerusalem. This appears to be derived from an apocryphal text written in about the 3rd century, and known in Russia by the 14th century. It depicts “Mount Jerusalem” as a Russian church, with angels, the Deisis (Mary, Jesus, John the Forerunner) in the central circle, and at the sides various ranks of saints. Paul looks up in wonder from below left:
The bottom image on the door is the Slaying of Zakharias (Zechariah) — the priest father of John the Baptist, at the order of King Herod. A priest Zakharias is mentioned in Matthew 23:35, but the basis of this image is really the apocryphal Protoevangelion of James, not the New Testament. The early and medieval Christians were very fond of that kind of biblical “fan fiction”:
It records:
And Herod searched for John, and sent officers to Zacharias, saying: Where have you hid your son? And he, answering, said to them: I am the servant of God in holy things, and I sit constantly in the temple of the Lord: I do not know where my son is. And the officers went away, and reported all these things to Herod. And Herod was enraged, and said: His son is destined to be king over Israel. And he sent to him again, saying: Tell the truth; where is your son? For you know that your life is in my hand. And Zacharias said: I am God’s martyr, if you shed my blood; for the Lord will receive my spirit, because you shed innocent blood at the vestibule of the temple of the Lord. And Zacharias was murdered about daybreak. And the sons of Israel did not know that he had been murdered.
The icon type that concerns us today, however, is the central image, which shows the Creation of Man, the Fall, and the Expulsion from Paradise:
(Museum of History and Art, Solvychegodsk)
Let’s look more closely:
In the portion at top left, we see God making Man from earth, in his image and likeness. Note that God in this example is not represented as God the Father (Lord Sabaoth), but rather as Jesus Christ. We can see his IC XC name abbreviation written in red above his halo:
At upper right, we see Jesus again, with his IC XC name abbreviation. He is giving Adam the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden of Paradise, or else he will die. Adam and Eve stand facing the tree, dressed in regal finery:
At lower left we see the serpent entwined around a tree, telling Eve that if she eats of the tree, they will not die but will become like gods, knowing good and evil. Adam too eats of the tree, and Death enters the world.
At lower right, God commands an angel to drive Adam and Eve out of Paradise for their disobedience.
Note the big change in clothing on Adam and Eve. Formerly, they were shown in royal garments. Now they are clothed about the waist only with coverings made of leaves.
Finally, at far right, we see the cherubim (Russians use the plural for singular) with the flaming sword, guarding the entrance to Paradise (the area represented by the circle), and Adam and Eve seated gloomily outside and below, pondering their fate:
Now there are countless icons of the Creation of Man, the Fall, and the Expulsion from Paradise. What is particularly interesting in this one is that by showing the pre-Fall Adam and Eve clothed in regal finery, they are using an old tradition that when Adam and Eve were first placed in Paradise, they were in a more glorious state. In Western tradition, we tend to think of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, walking about totally nude. But there is an Eastern Orthodox tradition — found also in Jewish tradition — that Adam was considered the first king (the Russians say Tsar) on the earth. He was placed there by God to rule in Paradise, much as many Russians before the Revolution thought the Tsar to be God’s appointed representative on earth. Adam was also considered a priest, because Paradise was thought, in a sense, to be the Holy of Holies, where Adam communed directly with God. So that is why, in this icon, Adam and Eve are clothed in royal finery, which they lost when they ate the forbidden fruit and were cast out of Paradise. Note that such a depiction is very uncommon in icons.
Well, tomorrow is December 26th — the Feast of Stephen. Stephen the supposed first martyr, that is. When I look out on the Feast of Stephen, I don’t expect to see snow lying about, deep and crisp and even. I don’t even anticipate seeing a light touch of frost. So far, it has been an unusually mild winter here. Plenty of rain though.
Mother Hulda (Frau Holle) has obviously not been shaking out her bedding — or perhaps a lazy girl has visited her and is stealing a nap instead of airing out the bedding. So much the worse for her!
If you don’t know what I am talking about, perhaps you have forgotten the tale by the Brothers Grimm, which is based on old Germanic folklore. When a girl jumps into a well and finds herself in another world, she comes to the house of Frau Holle, and is asked to do household tasks. Frau Holle cautions her:
Du mußt nur achtgeben, daß du mein Bett gut machst und es fleißig aufschüttelst, daß die Federn fliegen, dann schneit es in der Welt; ich bin die Frau Holle.”
“You must only be careful that you make my bed well and shake it out diligently, so that the feathers fly; then it snows in the world. I am Frau Holle.”
So, no snow for me it seems — at least none yet.
But back to Stephen. Yes, December 26th is the Feast of Stephen in the western churches — at least those that pay attention to saints, but in Eastern Orthodoxy it takes place on January 9th for those still on the old Julian Calendar, and December 27 for those wild-eyed innovationists who have adopted the Revised Julian Calendar.
Here is an old Mount Athos fresco of Stephen, who in the book of Acts suffers the first Christian martyrdom. Modern scholars often have their doubts, suggesting that Stephen may have been a literary creation of the author of Luke-Acts to mark a separation point of Jewish Christianity and non-Jewish Christianity, his martyrdom pushing the Christian message to be taken out into the Greco-Roman world.
In any case, the fellow who wrote the inscription on the fresco seems to have done a rather hurried job of it.
We see in big letters at upper left the Ὁ ἍΓΙΟC /Ho Hagios word for “Holy /”Saint”, and below that the first five letters CΤΕΦΑ/STEPHA continued on the right side with ΝΟC/NOS — All together forming CΤΕΦΑΝΟC/STEPHANOS — Stephen, his name. Before you write and complain that you only see four letters, don’t forget to note the ligature combining the first two letters C and T. Then below again, from left to right side, we see his rather messily-written title “Protomartyr and Archdeacon.” Stephen was supposedly the oldest of seven deacons given charge of distributing food and help to the needy members of the congregation. By E. Orthodox tradition he is considered the first or “arch-” deacon. His name Stephanos is Greek, indicating that he was likely thought to be a hellenistic Jew.
Of course, on the Feast of Stephen it was Good King Wenceslas who looked out on a snowy night and saw a poor man gathering winter fuel. Where I live, it would more likely be someone gathering aluminum cans to exchange for money at the local grocery. They try to hit the recycling bins before the big trucks come by to pick it all up and take it away. Some are not necessarily poor — just very thrifty and industrious.
I have discussed Good King Wenceslas here previously, but being in a good humor at this festive Yule time of year, I will add most of that earlier article below, so that you may have more free time to stuff yourself with holiday goodies instead of putting in the debilitating labor required to click on a link.
Most of us have never heard of the the saint depicted in this recent icon: “Holy Vyacheslav, Prince of the Czechs”: (Святый Вячеслав КнязьЧешский / Svyatuiy Vyacheslav Knyaz’ Cheshskiy). Sometimes his name is found as Vecheslav.
He was always rather obscure in Eastern Orthodoxy. In the Svodnuiy Ikonopisnuiy Podlinnik, he is not even given mention of a day of commemoration, other than that of the moving of his relics on March 4th. So there are very few icons of him, and almost all you will see are quite recent.
Though we do not know him under that Russianized form of his name, he is actually very familiar to most of us in English-speaking countries — particularly at this time of the year — under the name “Good King Wenceslas.”
In 1853, a new Christmas carol appeared in the book Carols for Christmastide. The words were written by the Englishman John Mason Neale, but the music to which it was set was the 14th century Latin song Tempus Adest Floridum.
Here are the words:
Good King Wenceslas looked out On the Feast of Stephen When the snow lay round about Deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that night Though the frost was cruel, When a poor man came in sight Gathering winter fuel.
Hither, page, and stand by me, If thou knowst it, telling Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling? Sire, he lives a good league hence, Underneath the mountain, Right against the forest fence By Saint Agnes fountain.
Bring me flesh and bring me wine, Bring me pine logs hither. Thou and I shall see him dine When we bear them thither. Page and monarch, forth they went Forth they went together, Through the rude winds wild lament And the bitter weather.
Sire, the night is darker now And the wind blows stronger Fails my heart, I know not how I can go no longer. Mark my footsteps, good my page Tread thou in them boldly. Thou shall find the winters rage Freeze thy blood less coldly.
In his master’s step he trod Where the snow lay dinted; Heat was in the very sod Which the Saint had printed. Therefore, Christian men, be sure Wealth or rank possessing. Ye, who now will bless the poor Shall yourselves find blessing.
As you see, this song not only tells us of the goodness of Wenceslas (he obviously would not have been a candidate for the Trump Administration), but also gives us the “miracle” of his footprints that warmed his following helper.
Now we must begin by saying that very little is known for certain about this Wenceslas/Vyacheslav. In the Czech lands he would have been known by the name Venceslav, now found in the form Václav, pronounced Vatslav.
All the legends surrounding him are based on the life of Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia, who is said to have lived from 907 to about 935. This was in the days before the Great Schism split Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, but even in those times there was a struggle going on between the Eastern Orthodox and western Latin rites and authority in the Czech lands.
The life of Duke Wenceslas — posthumously given the title “King Wenceslas” by the Holy Roman Emperor, is sadly rather violent and took place in the midst of power struggles.
When Wenceslas reached the age of 18, he banished his regent mother and became ruler of half the country. The other half was given to his younger brother Boleslaus, generally known as Boleslaus the Cruel. Not without reason. He formed a plot to kill Wenceslas. On September 28, 935, Boleslaus and three cohorts attacked Wenceslas at the door of the church as he was going to mass, the three stabbing him and Boleslaus his brother thrusting a lance though his body.
Almost immediately after his death, the reputation of Wenceslas as a holy martyr began. There were reports of miracles happening at his tomb. And with that reputation went tales of his kindness and goodness, as expressed in the remarks of Cosmas of Prague in 1119:
“His deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for, as is read in his Passion, no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God’s churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.”
Some think that because Wenceslas — according to tradition — so loved his page and valet Podiven, who was also later killed by Boleslaus for his devotion to Wenceslas, that he must have also been “Gay King Wenceslas.” My view is that in our time too strong a division is made between “straight” and “gay.” Those are rather artificial boxes into which we place people. Really it is often not an either/or matter, because sexuality is more a wide scale than a simple division, with people found at various points on it. Some prefer their own sex. Some prefer their own sex and the other sex. And some prefer only the other sex. And of course one can love someone of the opposite gender or the same gender without sex even entering into it. There can be love without sex; there can be sex without love. People are just people, whatever their sexual orientation or gender preference. What matters is not who you love or how you love, but that you love, and the more selfless the better.
In the earliest account of the good deeds of Wenceslas, the squire who assisted him is not named. It is later accounts that gave him the name Podiven. Remains said to be those of “Blessed” Podiven are interred in the same St. Vitus Cathedral where those of Wenceslas are kept.
So little is known historically about Wenceslas and his page that much of what is said of them comes from legend rather than history, but in any case the tale has provided us with one of the most beloved old Christmas carols.
Here is a Russian icon of Vyacheslav painted by Osip Chirikov close to 1900:
(State Hermitage Museum)
The inscription at the base reads: Month of September, 28th Day. That is the traditional date of the death of Vyacheslav.
So there you have it. I hope you find something tasty in your pantry to munch on during the Feast of Stephen, and something warm to drink as you imagine snow outside, deep and crisp and even. Even if it is raining instead.
As some of you know, the popular holiday song called in English “Carol of the Bells” is actually a Ukrainian song — “Schedryk.” This festive season is a good time to remember the brave and suffering people of Ukraine and all they have been going through to preserve their sovereignty and independence. May the New Year bring an end to the long nightmare Putin has inflicted on Ukraine, on Russia, and on the world — and may Russia turn to peace and away from authoritarianism.
As in holidays past, here is the link to a pleasant animated version of Schedryk. Enjoy!
ICONS AND THEIR INTERPRETATION 