The icon Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was created in one of the Central Russian icon-painting workshops in the 17th century. The icon was brought to the Mordovian Museum of Local History in 1984, earlier it was stored in a family of old believers’ descendants.
The peculiarity of the iconography of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is that, unlike others, this church holiday has no basis in the holy books. All the events describing the death, resurrection and ascension of the Virgin Mary are mentioned in sacred tales, but, nevertheless, do not contradict Christian doctrine.
The iconographic canons of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary were laid during the 7th Ecumenical Council, convened in 787 in the city of Nicaea. The Ecumenical Council decided that icons were sacred images, and believers should revere them. At that time the old rules of iconography were updated, and new ones were formed that survived to the present day.
The composition of the icon Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary may conditionally be divided into two semantic blocks. Below in the centre there is the body of the deceased Virgin Mary, surrounded by grieving apostles, crying women and saints. Above the bed with the deceased rises Jesus Christ, above his nimbus there is an angel with spread wings. Thus, the image at the bottom of the icon symbolizes earthly mourning, and at the top – the joy of ascension. Such a composition is typical of all the variants of the Assumption icon-painting.
The deathbed of the Virgin Mary is surrounded by mourning apostles. Peter is depicted with a censer in his hand, he performs incensing – a ritual burning of frankincense over the body of the deceased. John fell to the very bed of Mary, because the Savior asked him to take care of the Virgin Mary before his death.
This icon Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an abridged version of the iconography of the Assumption, since the journey of the apostles to Jerusalem is not shown here as well as the soul of the Virgin Mary ascending to paradise, which is typical to full iconography.
However, on the icon one may find separate elements of the entire iconographical canon (rule) for depicting the Assumption of the Virgin, which distinguishes it from other traditional works. At the bottom of the icon there is an angel in red-green garment with a gold border. He raised a sword over his head to cut off the hands of Aphonia, a Jew who tried to overturn the bed and take Mary’s body away from the apostles. This scene, as a rule, is found only in the full version of the Assumption iconography.
Figures of saints, which traditionally occupy the entire space from Mary’s bed to the icon fields, are also situated unusually in this ancient Russian piece of art. Here the Savior, saints and weeping wives are depicted against a semicircular dark-green background, decorated with golden stars. It symbolizes the open sky, full of angels and “other ethereal celestial forces”.
The peculiarity of the iconography of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is that, unlike others, this church holiday has no basis in the holy books. All the events describing the death, resurrection and ascension of the Virgin Mary are mentioned in sacred tales, but, nevertheless, do not contradict Christian doctrine.
The iconographic canons of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary were laid during the 7th Ecumenical Council, convened in 787 in the city of Nicaea. The Ecumenical Council decided that icons were sacred images, and believers should revere them. At that time the old rules of iconography were updated, and new ones were formed that survived to the present day.
The composition of the icon Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary may conditionally be divided into two semantic blocks. Below in the centre there is the body of the deceased Virgin Mary, surrounded by grieving apostles, crying women and saints. Above the bed with the deceased rises Jesus Christ, above his nimbus there is an angel with spread wings. Thus, the image at the bottom of the icon symbolizes earthly mourning, and at the top – the joy of ascension. Such a composition is typical of all the variants of the Assumption icon-painting.
The deathbed of the Virgin Mary is surrounded by mourning apostles. Peter is depicted with a censer in his hand, he performs incensing – a ritual burning of frankincense over the body of the deceased. John fell to the very bed of Mary, because the Savior asked him to take care of the Virgin Mary before his death.
This icon Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is an abridged version of the iconography of the Assumption, since the journey of the apostles to Jerusalem is not shown here as well as the soul of the Virgin Mary ascending to paradise, which is typical to full iconography.
However, on the icon one may find separate elements of the entire iconographical canon (rule) for depicting the Assumption of the Virgin, which distinguishes it from other traditional works. At the bottom of the icon there is an angel in red-green garment with a gold border. He raised a sword over his head to cut off the hands of Aphonia, a Jew who tried to overturn the bed and take Mary’s body away from the apostles. This scene, as a rule, is found only in the full version of the Assumption iconography.
Figures of saints, which traditionally occupy the entire space from Mary’s bed to the icon fields, are also situated unusually in this ancient Russian piece of art. Here the Savior, saints and weeping wives are depicted against a semicircular dark-green background, decorated with golden stars. It symbolizes the open sky, full of angels and “other ethereal celestial forces”.
