User:Sterndmitri/Znamenie

Our Lady of the Sign
Russian: Знамение (Znameniye)
Year	First half of 12th century
Type	Orans
Dimensions	59 cm × 57.2 cm (23 in × 22.5 in)
Location	Cathedral of St. Sophia, Veliky Novgorod

Znа́meniye or Our Lady of the Sign is an icon in orans style, dated by the first half of the 12th century. The icon was painted in medieval Novgorod. It is one of the most revered icons of the Russian Orthodox Church and the main holy of Russian North-West. In past the icon was the main icon of Novgorod Republic and the symbol of Novgorod sovereignty and republicanism due to the event that has glorified the icon.

Description

The icon symbolizes pregnancy of the Virgin: it shows Our Lady with hands raised for praying and the figure of the holy infant in her chest in the circle (orans type of icons). The icon is 2-sided: saint Joachim and saint Anne in praying are pictured on the back side. It has a shaft what means for an icon the ability to be beared outside.

In the 17th century the paint was refreshed: Macarius, the metropolitan of Moscow, is believed to be the possible executor). The initial ancient paint is retained fragmentary only (some fragments of the Virgin’s dress, and the circle around the Jesus). The back side image is absolutely original, in the ancient paint.

History

The icon is ascribed to be miraculous. The miracle happened in 1170, when Novgorod was sieged by army of Andrei Bogolubsky, the prince of Suzdal. The struggle had become a seminal iconographic theme afterwards.

In 1170 the united army of 4 Russian kingdoms (duchy of Vladimir, duchy of Smolensk, duchy of Murom and duchy of Polotsk) had come toward the walls of Novgorod and sieged the city. The further events are well described in Novgorodian saga, cited below.

The battle as shown by Novgorodian icon

... When Novgorodians had heard about the great forces stepping against them, great sorrow and mourning captured themselves. And, complaining bitterly, they were praying to the merciful Father, and the holy Virgin, Our Lady. And they made up a burg around the city, and hid themselves behind the walls. And Suzdalians had come with the princes of all the Russia, and had been staying near the burg for 3 days. At the second night of sieging, when saint Joanne the archbishop was standing against the holy image of Jesus and praying this city to be saved, he heard the voice which told him: "Go to the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street, and take the icon of Our Lady, and bring it on the wall of burg, and show it to the adversaries". And saint Joann the archbishop was sleepless all the night long, praying to Our Lady. <...> And they brought the icon on the walls of burg, where the monastery in honour of Our Lady on the Tithe arises nowadays. And all the Novgorodians were hiding themselves behind the walls meekly, fearing to make a stand against the enemies; everyone was just mourning about his fate, anticipating the doom, as the Suzdalians had already divided the streets of Novgorod between themselves: which one belongs to what duchy. So, and when it was the sixth hour of the struggle, all the Russian regiments started the attack. And arrows fell down the city like a shower. Then the icon by the providence of God had turned itself toward the city, and the archbishop saw the tears on the icon, and he put the icon under his phelonion. O, great awe-inspiring miracle! How may it be from a dry wood? These are not tears, but She showed a sign of Her grace: that's the way how Our Lady was praying to Her Son and our God for our city not to be forsaken for the adversaries to outrage it. Then Our Lord became gracious about the city due to the praying by Our Lady. He unleashed his anger at all the Russian regiments, and the night came down like it was when Moses had been leading the Israelis through the Red Sea, and sank the pharaoh. So, the fear and trembling had captured them, and they all got blind, and started to fight against themselves. Seeing it, Novgorodians had gone out at the battlefield, and killed ones, and turned others into prisoners of war. That's how Suzdalian fame and honour gone, and Novgorod was saved from the grief by praying of Our Lady. And Joanne the archbishop had established a merry holiday, and all the Novgorod started to celebrate it - all the Novgorodians: men, women, children, - the holiday of Honourable Sign of Our Lady. Hail, Our Lord.

—The Saga about the struggle between Novgorod and Suzdal ("Сказание о битве новгородцев с суздальцами"), the middle of 14th century, the translation close to literal

Importance of that victory was hard to overestimate, taking into consideration the fact that a year before the same army of Andrei Bogolubsky and his allies had captured Kiev for the first time in history, aborting the reigning of the Novgorodian prince’s father.

The miraculous icon had been dwelling in Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street 186 years afterwards. Later it was moved in a church in honour of the sign on the Holy Virgin, built specially for the icon. The last isn't preserved, as in 1682 it was replaced with the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign in Novgorod.

Numerous copies of the icon were well known all around the Russia. Some of them are believed to be miraculous as well. Memory about the miraculous deliverance of Novgorod had been retained in oral tales for a long time.