Blachernitissa

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The icon of the Theotokos kept in Moscow since 1653 and considered to be the Blachernitissa (46 × 37,5 × 4 cm; Tretyakov Gallery)

Blachernitissa (

Vlach (sometimes written as Blach or Blasi), who came to Constantinople from the lower Danube.[1]

Byzantine palladium

See also:
Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (Istanbul)

The Theotokos was considered to be the

Church of St. Mary of Blachernae (which hosted the icon) was sited close to the Blachernae imperial palace
.

Reappearance

The icon was believed to have been lost after the fire that destroyed the church on February 29, 1434, although in later centuries its disappearance came to be associated with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Like many holy objects of Byzantine tradition, the Blachernitissa (or a copy thereof) resurfaced on Mount Athos in the mid-17th century.

Whether it is the same icon that was kept in Blachernae is a matter of scholarly debate, as the ancient icon is believed to have been of the

Hodegetria (literally, "She who leads the way").[2] It has been suggested that the Athonite icon had its origins in the Blachernae quarter and perhaps even resided in the Church of St. Mary before being transferred to Mount Athos for "security reasons". [1] [2]
[3]

It was in 1653 that the icon was sent by the Athonite monks to Moscow as their gift to

Theotokos of Vladimir
.

Veneration in Muscovy

Smolensk campaign
.

The 1650s were a time when the Russian Church, steered by

Third Rome doctrine which saw Moscow as the successor to Constantinople.[6] With this in mind, the metochion sent the newly recovered Byzantine relic to Moscow and was "handsomely remunerated" with 800 dinars
from the Tsar's coffers.

Study and restoration

When placed in the Kremlin, the icon was in disrepair from old age and use, so that Simon Ushakov and Nikita Pavlovets had to be summoned for "repairs" in 1674. Nikodim Kondakov was unable to determine the icon's age due to this and later restorations, which involved some amount of overpainting, but felt reasonably certain that "the composition was of ancient date".[7]

The carved

Trapezunt monastery, also datable to the 13th century.[8] Thus the 13th century seems to be emerging as the most likely date for the icon.[9]

Replicas

The Blachernitissa never rose to the height of veneration accorded by the Russian Orthodox Church to the

Napoleon's occupation and was put at risk during the Great Fire of 1812
.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ilie Gherghel, (1920). (Romanian) Cateva consideratiuni la cuprinsul notiunii cuvantului "Vlach". Bucuresti: Convorbiri Literare, p.4-8
  2. ^ "Icon of The Virgin Blachernitissa", Art UK
  3. ^ Nikolay Kapterev. Характер отношений России к православному Востоку в XVI и XVII столетиях. Moscow, 1885. P. 85-87.
  4. ^ Выходы государей царей и великих князей Михаила Федоровича, Алексея Михайловича, Федора Алексеевича, всея Руси самодержцев (с 1632 по 1682 год). Moscow, 1844. P. 299-300.
  5. ^ Путешествие антиохийского патриарха Макария в Россию в половине XVII века, описанное его сыном, архидьяконом Павлом Алеппским. Moscow, 1898. Vol. 3, part 7, p. 11.
  6. ^ Фонкич Б.Я. Греческо-русские культурные связи в XV–XVII веках. Moscow: Nauka, 1979. P. 198.
  7. ^ Nikodim Kondakov. Памятники христианского искусства на Афоне. Saint Petersburg, 1902. Pp. 142, 148–151, 156.
    Kondakov. Иконография Богоматери. Petrograd, 1915. Vol. 2. Pp. 185, 187–189.
  8. Nikolai Likhachev
    . Историческое значение итало-греческой иконописи, изображения Богоматери в произведениях итало-греческих иконописцев и их влияние на композиции некоторых прославленных русских икон. St. Petersburg, 1911. P. 53.
  9. ^ Irina Sokolova. Икона “Богоматерь Влахернская” из Успенского собора Московского Кремля. Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine // Mir Bozhii, 1999.

External links

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