Mother of God of Vladimir
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| Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir |
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| Anonymous , early 12th century |
| Egg tempera on linden wood |
| 104 × 69 cm |
| Tretyakov Gallery |
The icon of Our Lady of Vladimir ( Russian Владимирская икона Божией Матери Vladimirskaya ikona Boschijei Materi , transliteration: Vladimirskaja ikona Božiej Materi , Ukrainian Вишгородська ікона Божої Матері ), short Vladimirskaya is an icon of the late 11th or early 12th century, a national shrine Russia and thus one of the most important icons of all Russian Orthodoxy .
origin
Legend has it that this icon is one of three portraits that the Evangelist Luke is said to have made of the Mother of God and the Christ Child. In the 5th century it is said to have been brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople on the orders of Emperor Theodosius II . Investigations of the picture could not confirm this legend. Rather, the icon is said to have been made in Constantinople in the early 12th century and represents an outstanding example of late Comanian icon painting.
history
After the Kievan Rus was "baptized" in 988 through the conversion of Vladimir I to Christianity, there was a great need for religious objects for the practice of the new faith and the liturgy. This need was met by imports of these articles from Constantinople. Two icons of Our Lady came to Kiev along this route between 1131 and 1136 , one of which was probably the Vladimirskaya , which was venerated as an image of grace in the Devičij monastery in Vyshhorod (near Kiev).
In 1155 the icon was brought to Vladimir by order of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky , where it was kept in the Assumption Cathedral (Uspenskij Cathedral). Andrei Bogoljubskij was Prince of Vladimir and Suzdal, from 1157 Grand Prince of Kiev; he chose Vladimir as the Grand Duke's residence and thus as the political center of the Kievan Rus, the Russian empire of that time. Andrei Bogolyubsky had numerous white stone buildings built in Vladimir, including cathedrals, monasteries and fortifications. As the saving Virgin of Vladimir , the icon of Mary became the most revered image in Russia in the 14th century.
In 1395 the icon was relocated again and taken to Moscow, where it was later placed in the iconostasis to the right of the Tsar's door in the 15th century Cathedral of the Assumption. After the icon was removed from the Kremlin's Uspensky Cathedral in 1918, it was exhibited in the State Historical Museum on Red Square in 1926 , before being added to the Tretyakov Gallery collection in 1930 . With the inventory number 14243 it is now in the Museum Church of St. Nicholas of Tolmačach (Russian Музей-храм Святителя Николая в Толмачах Musei-chram Swjatitelja Nikolaja v Tolmachach ) belonging to the Tretyakov Gallery .
National shrine
The icon's fame is based on legends surrounding alleged miracles of the icon, which are closely related to actual historical events in Russian history. Everything is said to have started with the fact that the horses, which were supposed to bring the icon to Rostov , refused to go on in Vladimir . The icon is said to be responsible for the establishment of the new capital and a new empire ( Grand Duchy of Vladimir ). In 1395 the icon is said to have saved Moscow from being attacked by Timur . And two more times the icon is said to have saved Russia from ruin: in 1451 and 1480. The year 1480 is particularly important, because while standing on the Ugra , the Grand Duchy of Moscow began under Ivan III. - with the help of Vladimirskaya, of course - to strengthen his power before Ivan IV the Terrible could finally push back the Golden Horde .
Another story goes that during the attack by the German Wehrmacht on Moscow in December 1941, Stalin is said to have ordered the icon to fly over the city in an airplane in order to protect the population and the city.
Art history
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From an art-historical point of view, the most important characteristic of the icon is undoubtedly the extremely high quality of its painting. However, as intensive investigations by the Russian State Restoration Workshops showed in 1919, only the face and neck of the Blessed Mother, the face of the Christ child and insignificant parts of the background still come from the icon's original creative period.
Iconographically , this representation of the Mother of God with the Christ Child belongs to the type of so-called Eleusa . Eleusa (Greek for. The pity end , the Erbarmerin ) or Umilenie (умиление - russ for. Stirring ) means that Maria turns to caring for the child and the intimate relationship between the two is clearly visible, with the sorrowful expression in the face of Mary it, should indicate that she can already foresee the passion that lies in the future . The direct forerunner and closely related type of this representation of Eleusa is the Hodegetria . The Vladimirskaya is the oldest surviving example of this type, which was particularly widespread in Russia.
The craftsmanship and conception of the Vladimirskaya are of the utmost elegance and security. The transition from the contour line to the modeled surface in the faces was made with great care, the face of the Blessed Mother shows typical features of high Byzantine painting, such as the narrow, pointed eyes, the long nose and the narrow mouth and chin area.
Others
The logo of Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions depicts a section of the Vladimirskaya.
The Church of Our Lady of Wladimir in Penzberg , Upper Bavaria, is dedicated to her.
Individual evidence
- ^ Kurt Weitzmann: The Icon. 6th to 14th century, Munich 1978, p. 80f .; Ivan Bentchev: On the relationship between original, copy and replica using the example of the Mother of God of Vladimir and other Russian icons, in: Russian icons. New research, ed. v. Eva Haustein-Bartsch, Recklinghausen 1991, pp. 153–158; Vladimir Ivanov: The great book of Russian icons, ed. by the Patriarchate of Moscow, Freiburg im Breisgau 1988, p. 10 (Fig. 1), 13.
- ↑ George Heard Hamilton, The art and architecture of Russia, Williamstown, Mass., 1980, Yale University Press / Pelican History of art, p. 107.
- ↑ Ibidem, p. 107.