#russian orthodox iconography

[graysoniconography]

Saint Tsar Nicholas II

One of my favorite Russian saints

Troparion (Tone 1)

Most noble and sublime was your life and death, O Sovereigns;

Wise Nicholas and blest Alexandra, we praise you,

Acclaiming your piety, meekness, faith, and humility,

Whereby ye attained to crowns of glory in Christ our God,

With your five renowned and godly children of blessed fame.

O passion–bearers decked in purple, intercede for us.

Kontakion (Tone 2)

Royalty and martyrdom were joined together, O blessed ones,

In your death for righteousness and right belief, O wise Sovereigns,

Nicholas and Alexandra, with your five children.

Hence, Christ our God counted you worthy of thrones in Heaven;

And with twofold crowns of glory,

You reign forever, adorned with grace divine.

[commissarred]

Midnight Office followed by Liturgy at 1 am

[soulrestinginstpetersburg]

Icons made by nuns from monastery Gradac, Serbia

[orthodoxadventure]

“Saint John the Russian” Monastery in southern Romania was established on November 1, 2008, on the ruins of a former military unit of the Giurgiu Border Police. Photo credit: Doxologia

[religious-extremist]

[salomedebeaurepaire]

The most Holy Theotokos

[ya-nje-znayu]

For New Years, my boyfriend gifted me a hand painted icon made by a monk in the Danilov Monastery, the oldest monastery in Moscow. It is beautiful.

[jh-newman-opn]

Writings on (proper) Orthodox Iconography

Or, things that were useful for my diss-writing: requested by @naomisramblings

The Meaning of Icons - Leonid Ouspensky, Vladimir Lossky -- this was the book I kept coming back to: excellent pictures, wonderfully spiritual explanations, it's the real deal

An introduction to russian art and architecture – robert auty and dimitri obolensky

Byzantine Sacred Art - Constantine Cavarnos -- a collection of writings by Photis Kontoglou, a 20thC Greek iconographer

Le Stoglav Ou Les Cent Chapitres - E Duchesne -- a French translation of the Stoglav, which is a 16th collection of rubrics around ecclesiology, symphonia, and iconography compiled after a Russian church council. Slightly controversial document but historically useful. Couldn't find an English translation.

‘The Moscow Stoglav (“hundred chapters”) Church Council of 1551. (Volumes I and II) - JE Kollman -- more stoglav stuff,

https://web.archive.org/web/20130424141441/http://www.themoscownews.com/local/20130304/191296031/A-guide-to-the-interior-of-a-Russian-Orthodox-church.html -- guide to the interior of a Russian church

Development of Eastern Christian Iconography - Elena Ene D-Vasilescu

The Iconographic Canon of Orthodox Churches: History, Evolution, Symbolism - Gheorghe Gîrbea

Icons in Theory and Practice: An Orthodox Christian Example - M Kenna -- more about greek icons but still a lot of transferrable info

Sinai, Byzantium, Russia: Orthodox art from the sixth to the twentieth century - Piatnitsii et al -- LOVED this book, gives a really good bird's eye view of the development of iconography. Iirc it's one of those books that has a real hard on for mount athos but I could be wrong.

https://russianicons.wordpress.com - this blog is also useful, esp on podlinniki. it's not scholarship per se but it's a guy with a niche interest and honestly is that not the backbone of civilisation

Строгановский иконописный лицевой подлинник: (Конца XVI и начала XVII столѣти��) - Sergei Stroganov -- if you can find this, I found it helpful as a closer look into podlinniki

Hope that helps! I don't have access to half of these books anymore, but if you have a university/institution login that should do the trick. Annoyingly I seem to have lost a bunch of my notes but these ones survived-- if you want my notes from any particular book you're very welcome to them as well. Ah, the joys of the internet :)

[prehistoricpatristics]

Christian Iconography relating to marriage

Icon as Christ as a Bridegroom

Christ the Bridgegroom is symbolic of marriage within the Orthodox Church. The ropes that bind his hand are a universal symbol of marriage within the Orthodox Church, symbolising the unification of the souls under the marriage. The reed, a symbol of humility in relationships, and his crown a symbol of Christ as the head of families and relationships.

Christ as Pantokrator

Christ as Pantokrator is a common wedding gift, symbolising the rule of Christ over relationships

St. Argyre

St. Argyre the New Martyr is the patron saint of marriage, one who was killed in order to respect her marriage vows. She if often called upon to find a spouse, and to strengthen the current relationship.

Priscilla and Aquila

St. Priscilla and St. Aquilla are two married Saints themselves named in the New Testament. St. Aquilla is traditionally listed among the 70 disciples of Christ who lived with St. Paul the Apostle. The two saints are referred to as the patron Saints of Love and Marriage and the strength they gave to the early churches was based on their love for eachother.

Saint Basil the Elder and his wife Saint Emmelia 

St. Basil and St. Emmelia are two Orthodox Christians who greatly influenced Christian history. Of their 9 children, 5 are remembered as Saints, many of them being influential in theology and patristic writings. They are the perfect example of a godly marriage and family.

St. Xenia of St. Petersburg

St. Xenia of St. Petersburg was a Saint who wrote widely on the impacts and theology surrounding marriage, specifically she wrote about equality in marriage. In every marriage the love between spouses is manifested by the mutual offering of emotional and material support of each other. St. Xenia's believes on love are incredibly influential.

SS. Anne and Joachim

Ss. Joachim and Anna serve as a model for marriage, Mary the Mother of God is the fruit of their marriage. They also serve as a great example of a model relationship, with them coping with and dealing with the trials and struggles of infertility.

The Theotokos

In the context of a wedding, the Prescence of the Theotokos serves as a reminder of the importance of marriage union, and the sacred bond between spouses.

Wedding Feast at Cana

The Wedding Feast at Cana is a clear example of a happy wedding, one of praise and celebration that Christ himself was present at. The depth of celebration, praise for the couple but Christ himself too is a perfect example of what a wedding should be.

Iconography of the song of songs

It is much harder to find, and not widespread, but iconography of the Song of Songs is perfect for a wedding, not only symbolising the love between spouses, but the love between mortal and divine.

[andijaart]

+++ 🙏🏻God Bless🕊️ +++

Orthodox Gift Set With The Icon Of The Holy Trinity. From Holy Dormition Pskovo-Petchersky Monastery/handmade

💫 International Orthodox Art Corporation Andcross

May the blessing of the Lord be upon you!

[goingpostal1980]

TO JESUS THROUGH MARY

^ This one isn't actually religious art it's a Russian painting of a scene from a Brothers Grimm story but it's so cool I have to include it

[graysoniconography]

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[commissarred]

Arrival of the first Orthodox mission to America, Saints Herman, Juvenaly, and others ☦️

[gourmetgrilledcheeses]

screenshots from a video of my grandpa painting a Russian Orthodox Church in 1987☦️

[orthodoxadventure]

Икона Божией Матери именуемая "Отгоняющая злые помыслы". The icon of the Mother of God called "Driving away evil thoughts".

[vulcajes]

Marauders and Co's religious upbringings ✨️

Note: this is all my own hcs and all for a muggle au. I don't think purebloods had religion. Maybe I'll make that post explaining my hc on religion in the wizarding world someday

James — Hindu or Muslim on his mother's side, Catholic on his father's. He'd probably lean more towards his mother's religion bc he's a mummy's boy

Peter — Anglican or Jewish. He's 100% English to me and I can see him being one of the two but I don't think he'd have been raised religious

Remus — I can see him being either Jewish or Catholic, maybe both. Catholic on Lyall's side, Jewish on Hope's if he's both. Also, he was raised deeply religious btw (Hope is very religious whether she's Jewish or Catholic idc)

Lily — I can see her being raised Catholic (projecting). She probably isn't particularly religious (lost her faith as she grew up) but remembers all her prayers and how to do Mass

Mary — her mum is Catholic and her dad is Rastafarian, but they never really bothered with religion and focused on making sure she's loved

Marlene — her mum is Catholic but her dad was raised on Chinese folklore and passed that on to his daughter. She doesn't gaf about religion but probably thinks her Chinese heritage and folklore is sick and is proud of it

Emmeline — her Korean family is Buddhist but her Scottish family is Protestant. She doesn't gaf about religion but she thinks Buddhism is cool (anything to make her feel closer to her Korean family)

Alice — Catholic and devout. ROI girly and will go to Mass as often as possible. She knows Latin. My queen.

Frank — Protestant and devout. He's Northern Irish to me and as much as he'd like Ireland to be independent together again, he's still very Protestant and a follower.

Dorcas — Muslim born and raised. Both her parents are devout followers of Islam and she's pretty religious too, but not majorly. It guides her morals and any hard choices she makes.

Pandora — Pandora Lovegood wouldn't be religious (her scientist nature would make her suspicious of religion) but Pandora Rosier would either be Eastern Orthodox or Dogon (very different ik but that's bc I see the Rosiers as either South African/Italian or Ukrainian)

Evan — like Pandora, I can see him as being Eastern Orthodox or Dogan. More into religion than his sister. Their father was Italian and Catholic but he wasn't particularly religious. Their mother was deeply spiritual, though.

Barty — Russian Orthodox on his mother's side and his dad isn't religious. Mrs. Crouch was devoutly Orthodox and their house was covered in iconography, Barty was raised as such.

Sybill — worshipper of the Hellenistic pantheon. She's Greek imo and holds her cultural and religious heritage very closely to her heart

Xenophilius — Lutheran but he has a fascination with Norse mythology (he's Norwegian in my hc). He doesn't necessarily believe in it but it's a big part of his life.

The Black family — probably not particularly religious but would go to religious events to keep up appearances. I can see them being Anglican or Mormon in an American au. But also selfishly I want them to be Catholic because it's sooooo cunty.