The Nativity of the Virgin. Icon and iconographic tradition of the holiday

Among the so-called twelve (that is, twelve most important) Orthodox holidays, one is dedicated to the memory of the birthday of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. It is also a very important holiday in the Catholic Church. We have this event on September 8 (September 21 for churches adhering to the old style).

Holiday Events

To better understand the iconographic content of the holiday, it should briefly highlight its events and theological content. According to the doctrine of the orthodox church, Mary, the future Mother of God, was born from the righteous Jews of Joachim and Anna. This married couple was in vilification among the society, since it had no children, and this in those days was considered the punishment of God for sins. Afterwards, after intensified prayers and sorrows, an angel from God told the righteous that their prayer had been heard, and they would give birth to a child whose glory would spread throughout the world. Nine months later, according to legend, they were born Mary, which they were vowed to be raised in the Jerusalem temple. There is no information on this in the Bible, and all the information relates to a relatively late tradition, partially reflected in the apocryphal book - the so-called Proto-Gospel of Jacob.

Oldest Images

To date, the earliest images on this holiday date back to the beginning of the second millennium. As an example, we can cite the murals of the temple in Ateni (Georgia) on motifs of the plot "Christmas of the Virgin". The icon, or rather the fresco of this plot, in this church refers to the XI century, but it is possible that it is a reconstruction of an earlier image. By the same period are the murals in St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev.

In general, the early images of the holiday "The Nativity of the Virgin" (an icon or a fresco on the wall of the church - does not matter) are simple enough and uncomplicated. In them there is no accumulation of secondary details and symbols inherent in a more developed tradition. The central place in the composition is the figure of Anna lying on the bed. Before her is a midwife, and on the edges are women with traditional gifts in honor of the birth of a child.

Late Tradition

As has already been said, over time the plot "The Nativity of the Virgin", an icon or fresco of which from the 13th and 14th centuries was in every Orthodox church, became more complex and detailed, accumulating various auxiliary elements. Such things include, for example, birds, interior and household items of the house of Anna and Joachim, water bodies, etc.

For example, you can recall the fresco from the Basilica of Saint Mary in Rome of the 13th century. Another vivid image on the theme "The Nativity of the Virgin" is an icon (16th century) or, more precisely, a fresco in the monastery of St. Ferapont in Russia, where one of the churches is consecrated in honor of this feast. The author of this painting is the outstanding and famous icon painter Dionysius. Quite original artistic solutions were manifested in the Bulgarian iconography. An example of the plot "The Nativity of the Virgin" is an icon (17-18 century) from Sofia.

Another innovation of the late tradition was to supply the central festive image along the perimeter with so-called life. In this case we are talking about the artistic representation of the story of Proto-Gospel of Jacob concerning the birth of Mary. It began with the image of the grieving Joachim and Anna, then the seizure of Joachim's temple is shown with the purpose of sacrificing and denying him the high priest. Then follows the fast in the wilderness, the appearance of an angel and the meeting of righteous spouses at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. In a special way, a conception is denoted, deprived of any kind of eroticism. The icon assigns the central theme to the theme "The Nativity of the Virgin". A hagiographic narrative completed the depiction of another theotokos holiday - the introduction to the temple.

Conclusion

In the 17th and 19th centuries and later, the iconographic tradition in Russia fell into decay under the influence of Western academism and the general impoverishment of spiritual culture. Instead of icons, picturesque paintings on a religious theme began to be created. Although there were exceptions. An example on "The Nativity of the Virgin" is an icon of Abel the Seer. More precisely, the icon itself was written by his cell-mate Lazar in the late 18th century, commissioned by the Empress under the leadership of Abel. An interesting image is that in the fields of it are, as some believe, prophecies about the death of Emperor Pavel Petrovich, about the coming of a new king in the 21st century and the end of the world. For this icon, Abel, along with the cell-attendant, were exiled.