The icon depicting Saints Cosmas and Damian was painted by an unknown artist in the first half of the 16th century. The image was for a long time in the Cosmas and Damian Church in Murom. The Orthodox Church reveres three pairs of holy unmercenary doctors with the names Cosmas and Damian - Roman, Arabian and Asian. Their hagiographies are similar to each other. Some researchers believe that there was only one Cosmas and one Damian, in fact. Other historians tend to believe that there were three different pairs of holy doctors with such names.
The icon is painted in the traditional iconographic type with a frontal image of saints dressed in chitons, short tunics and capes. The icon’s size is small, but the saints look majestic and solemn. Their slender elongated figures have classical outlines. The iconographer depicted Cosmas and Damian with fine facial features and high foreheads. The artistic peculiarities of the work suggest that the iconographer’s manner was influenced by the Moscow school of Dionysius. At the same time, the monument has a number of properties that distinguish it from the Moscow paintings of the first half of the 16th century.
For example, the author chose cold coloring for the Murom icon. Dense and saturated with emerald-green, olive and purple-brown tone dominate it. The iconographer used light ochre for the background. The expressive contours of the clothes emphasize the weight of the folds on the chitons. The volumetric figures are freely arranged in space. These features bring the icon closer to the Rostov works of the early 16th century, which followed the traditions the 15th century art.
Icons often depicted Cosmas and Damian with spoons for medicines, which the saints brought to the medicine chests. There are no such spoons on this icon. The saints are holding their usual attributes – medicine chests, as if blessing them with their hands. A single image of the holy brothers prevailed in the national consciousness – of those who healed the sick by the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’ and would not accept rewards for their work. Cosmas and Damian were revered in Rus not only as healers, but also as patrons of blacksmithing.
The icon is painted in the traditional iconographic type with a frontal image of saints dressed in chitons, short tunics and capes. The icon’s size is small, but the saints look majestic and solemn. Their slender elongated figures have classical outlines. The iconographer depicted Cosmas and Damian with fine facial features and high foreheads. The artistic peculiarities of the work suggest that the iconographer’s manner was influenced by the Moscow school of Dionysius. At the same time, the monument has a number of properties that distinguish it from the Moscow paintings of the first half of the 16th century.
For example, the author chose cold coloring for the Murom icon. Dense and saturated with emerald-green, olive and purple-brown tone dominate it. The iconographer used light ochre for the background. The expressive contours of the clothes emphasize the weight of the folds on the chitons. The volumetric figures are freely arranged in space. These features bring the icon closer to the Rostov works of the early 16th century, which followed the traditions the 15th century art.
Icons often depicted Cosmas and Damian with spoons for medicines, which the saints brought to the medicine chests. There are no such spoons on this icon. The saints are holding their usual attributes – medicine chests, as if blessing them with their hands. A single image of the holy brothers prevailed in the national consciousness – of those who healed the sick by the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’ and would not accept rewards for their work. Cosmas and Damian were revered in Rus not only as healers, but also as patrons of blacksmithing.
