One of the rarest images of the Mother of God is the miraculous Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God. She was brought to Constantinople in 439, especially for her, at the behest of Emperor Leo the Great, a church was erected in the western part of the city, nicknamed Blachernae (once the Scythian leader Vlach was killed there). According to legend, it was at that place that the Mother of God appeared to Andrei the Holy Fool.

The icon received the name of the Blachernae Mother of God, and although after the fire of 1434, when the church was destroyed by fire, the icon was transferred to another temple, the name was preserved for it.

Description of the icon

The dimensions of the icon are relatively small: 46 × 37.5 × 4 cm. According to the type of icon painting, this is Hodegetria, which in Greek means Pointing the Way, or Guide. The technique in which it is made is unusual: it is a wax paste that allows you to get a relief image. Thanks to this, the image seems to protrude above the board, making an amazing impression on the believers and inspiring awe.

More great value gives the Blachernae icon the fact that wax and the relics of Christian martyrs mixed with it were used to create it, that is, it is not just an icon, but a reliquary.

The Blachernae image differs from other icon-painting images of the Virgin in the pronounced massiveness of the figure, as well as wider halos. In picturesque copies (lists), icon painters tried to give the images of the Mother of God and the Child the same relief.

From the history of the Blachernae Icon

The Blachernae icon has long been considered the patroness of both Constantinople itself and the emperors of Byzantium. When in 626 the city was besieged by enemies, Patriarch Sergius walked around its walls with an icon in his hands, and the Mother of God herself appeared to the enemies, after which they retreated in fear.

Another miracle associated with the Blachernae icon occurred during the era of iconoclasm. Then the icon, together with the lampada burning in front of it, was walled up in the wall of the Pantokrator monastery, where it was discovered a hundred years later, and the lampada continued to burn.

It was this icon that was delivered to Russia in 1653 as a gift to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, accompanied by a letter about its origin and veneration. Here, the icon was immediately revered as one of the greatest shrines, decorated with an oklad of chased gold with large quantity precious stones and pearls and attached gold plates, where her legend was stated.

The Blachernae icon was kept in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, from where the tsar always took it with him on military campaigns. Currently, she is in the Tretyakov Gallery, and her relief copy, granted to the father of Grigory Stroganov and dating from the 17th or 18th century, is in the Blachernae Church in Kuzminki, which was built especially for her. It became a family shrine of the Stroganov family.

What helps the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God

This icon helps in protecting against different kind external intrusions, whether it is a state or ordinary family. She is the guardian during hostilities, she also protects from the machinations of ill-wishers and protects the peace of family people from the intervention of unkind people.

Prayer of the Mother of God before Her Blachernae Icon

Preblagaya my queen, my hope to the Mother of God, friend of orphans and strange representatives, grieving joy, offended patroness! See my misfortune, see my sorrow, help me like a weak one, feed me like a strange one. I’ll offend my weight, resolve it, as if you will: as if I don’t have any other help for You, nor another intercessor, nor a good comforter, only You, O Bogomati, as if you save me and cover me forever and ever. Amen.

They pray for protection from enemies and ill-wishers, for protection in family life.

The Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God has been considered one of the most ancient in the whole world for many years. The creation of the shrine dates back to 302.
This icon from the Blachernae Church, which was located in Constantinople at that time, became the beginning of the Hodegetria (Guidebook) iconography.

When the Avars captured the capital, Patriarch Sergius (610-631) went around the city with prayers to the Intercessor for the salvation and liberation of his land. In memory of what the Mother of God fulfilled the petitions of the patriarch, they began to celebrate the holiday. The celebration took place every Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent. The holiday is known as Praise to the Most Holy Theotokos or "Saturday Akathist".
At first, the celebration took place only in Constantinople, in the well-known Blachernae Church. Since the 9th century, the feast has been venerated in the monastery of St. Savva the Sanctified, and after that it was included in the Lenten Triodion. The celebration reached such fame that the entire Orthodox Church began to celebrate it.

Since 1654, the Blachernae icon has been in the power of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who received the icon as a gift. Several versions of the further share of the icon exist. One says that when Constantinople was taken by the Turks, the icon was transferred to Moscow by Athos monks. Another version says that after the fall of Constantinople, in order to save the icon, it was transferred to convent named after Christ Pantocrator. When the church with everything that was in it was walled up, a mosque was erected on the site of the temple. The icon was at that time in the church, and it was discovered only in 1616. After that, the shrine came to the Christians, who sent it as a gift to the Tsar of Moscow.
This icon is very unusual, because it is represented by a relief image of the Mother of God. On the left hand of the Virgin sits the Infant, who blesses with one hand and holds a scroll in the other.

Many icon painters, and even ordinary Christians, noticed that the icon, not painted with paints, parts of the body of the Virgin and the Baby protrude noticeably from the surface of the board. Pavel Aleppsky, who described the visit of Patriarch Macarius to Moscow, said that a certain fear is felt when looking at the icon.
For more than two centuries, the Byzantine treasure has been in the Assumption Church of the Kremlin. After the cathedral was closed to parishioners, the icon was transferred to the Exaltation of the Cross Church, which is located on Vozdvizhenka. When this temple was destroyed in 1931, the shrine was transferred to the Kremlin. The icon became part of the collection of the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin (the shrine remains in this collection even now).

In the Tretyakov Gallery there is another Blachernae icon Holy Mother of God.

In the XVII-XVIII centuries, several honored lists were made.

(holiday July 7), a miraculous image sent to Moscow from the K-field as a gift to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from the protosinkell (rector) of the Jerusalem metochion in the K-field of Gabriel. According to information from the 17th century, the solemn meeting of the icon took place on 16 October. 1653(7162) .

Even during V.'s stay and. in the K-field by the K-Polish Patriarch Paisius, a Certificate of Attestation was drawn up, which later. along with the message of Protosyncella Gabriel was sent to Russia, apparently in response to a request from the king. In these documents, Greek the originals of which were found in the RGADA by B. L. Fonkich (RGADA. F. 52. Op. 2. No. 488, 531), the icon is identified with one of the ancient shrines of the Blachernae Church (see Blachernae article). The history of the icon, set forth in the letter, is a variation of the legends about the icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria", but in this case, the miraculous salvation of the image is associated not with the capture of the K-field by the crusaders, but with the tour. conquest in 1453. According to the charter, during the time of the imp. The icon of Heraclius saved K-pol from the invasion of the Persians and Avars (626), and many miracles also took place in the monastery of the Mother of God in Blachernae. After the capture of the K-field by the Turks V. and. was transferred to the monastery of Christ. Before the temple of the mon-rya was turned into a mosque, pious people hid V. and. in a window niche and walled it up. Later, the icon was miraculously found, and the servant of the mosque, having removed the precious salary, sold the icon to a certain widow, who brought it as a gift to Protosyncellus Gabriel.

Attitude to V. and. as the patroness of the K-field and Greek. emperors immediately placed it among the most important shrines of the Russian. state-va. It was decorated with a precious salary, placed on the altar of the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral and took its place in church ceremonies and everyday life of the royal court, as evidenced by the cathedral officials and historical sources. The most important episode of the legend about the icon is the story of its miraculous help in saving the K-field from an enemy siege. In memory of this event under Patriarch Nikon in the Assumption Cathedral, it became a custom every year on the 5th Saturday of Great Lent, during the reading of the Akathist to St. Mother of God, the 1st kontakion to-rogo glorifies this miracle, put in the center of the temple on the lectern V. and. On the New Year's Day (September 1), this image also occupied one of central places- on the lectern, opposite the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, - as a symbol of patronage, which is a shrine Byzantine Empire now had to render the Tsar of Moscow and the entire Russian state. In this quality V. and. accompanied the tsar in the Smolensk campaigns (1654-1655), according to the testimony of Pavel of Aleppo, who left the first description of the monument brought to Russia (Paul of Aleppo. Journey. 1898. Issue 3. Book 7. P. 11; Book 9. P. 146). In 1812, during the invasion of Napoleon, the image remained in the cathedral. After the enemy was driven out, the icon was found damaged. In 1918, in connection with the closure of the Assumption Cathedral by the Soviet authorities, part of its shrines, including V. and., was transferred to the Exaltation of the Cross Church, located not far from the Kremlin. In 1931, when this temple was destroyed, the shrines returned to the Kremlin, becoming part of the museum collection of the GMMK. In present V.'s time and. located in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

It is known about 2 serious restorations of the icon in the 17th-19th centuries. In 1674, by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, it was repaired by the icon painters of the Armory Simon Ushakov and Nikita Pavlovets, who, in particular, reinforced it with a new cypress board. In 1813 (perhaps in 1806 - see: Sidorenko, p. 69) the icon was renovated after the Napoleonic invasion: it was duplicated on a new cypress board and decorated with a silver riza. During this period, new inscriptions in Greek were made on it: “Lady of the Blachernae Convent” and “Various Treasure”, and on the bottom field - an inscription in Russian about the renewal with the date of August 1. 1813. These inscriptions were preserved until 1983, when the icon was restored at the VKhNRTS by L. A. Dunaev: the layers of late records were removed from the margins and background of the icon, on the figures, due to the fragmentary preservation of the author’s layer, the inscriptions were left, with the exception of a small samples on the left shoulder of the Infant. Fragments of the original painting have been preserved on the images of the left eye of the Mother of God and the hand of the Infant holding a scroll.

In and. is a rare example of the Greek relief icons. In the sources of the XVII century. and in the literature of the XVIII-XIX centuries. it is called mastic-wax. Its base is a flat relief carved in wood, covered with a layer of wax-mastic and painted with paints. The technique of painting is distinguished by great skill. Very little is known about carved wooden icons with wax mastic. The revered Bakhchisaray (Mariupol) Icon of the Mother of God was executed in a similar technique. In Greek mon-re Mega Spileo (Great Cave) in the Peloponnese, a miraculous image of Our Lady of Spileotissa, made of wax and other substances, is kept. According to V. G. Grigorovich-Barsky, miraculous wax-mastic icons of the Mother of God were in Cyprus and Athos. All the icons mentioned, without exception, were revered as miraculous, and in the legends about them, the antiquity of origin is especially emphasized.

In the Certificate of Attestation of Patriarch Paisios, another the most important feature V. and .: it was made “by a mixture of holy relics and from many other fragrant compositions”, that is, it is a reliquary reliquary. In the literature of the XIX century. there is a mention of the composition of the relics - these are the ashes of the holy martyrs of Nicomedia (Victor, Victorinus, Claudian, Vassa), Sinai and Raifa.

N. P. Kondakov paid great attention to the iconography of this monument. Considering the development of the iconography of Hodegetria, he attributed V. and. to the number of 3 icons, most faithfully conveying this ancient type. Two others, the Tsilkan Icon of the Mother of God from Georgia (IX-XIII centuries, GMIG) and a carved steatite icon from the Vatopedi Monastery on Athos, probably of Polish origin (Kondakov dated the XII century; in modern publications - the XIV century. ). In general, V. and. close to the classical Byzantine type. Hodegetria of the XIII-XIV centuries, known in Russia as the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in its version, where the Mother of God is depicted almost frontally, without leaning towards the Child. To the iconographic features, which distinguish the image of Hodegetria on V. and. from the classical type, one can attribute the high, almost bust cut of the figure, its massiveness, large halos entering the fields. All these techniques are designed to bring the image closer to the worshipers, focusing on the faces. The Mother of God holds the Infant high, whose legs almost touch the margins of the icon. These features bring together V. and. with the image of the Mother of God Hodegetria from Ohrid (end of the 13th century, National Museum of Ohrid), the painting is associated with Polish traditions, but the face of the Mother of God on it is emphatically expressive.

The name of the Blachernae icon goes back to the text of the letter of Patriarch Paisios and appeared on the icon as a result of later renovations. This epithet is usually attributed to the full-length depiction of Our Lady Oranta, since such a mosaic, according to Kondakov, could decorate the apse of the Blachernae Church. Being associated with a toponym, it could be attached to different types icons venerated at Blachernae, pointing to the location of their ancient originals. There are known examples of the use of this epithet in connection with the iconographic types of the Mother of God Agiosoritissa, Tenderness and Oranta (with the Christ Child at her breast). Genuine Greek. the inscription on the icon, discovered as a result of the last restoration, is Η ΘΕΟΣΚΕΠΑ[Σ]ΤΟΣ. Translated as “God-protected” or “God-protected”, this rare epithet is known only from 2 examples: the lead seal of the Trebizond monastery of the 13th century. (GE), on which it accompanies the image in the growth of Our Lady Oranta, and the name of the venerated icon of the XIV century. type Kykkotissa (Byzantine Museum. Nicosia), reflecting its origin from c. Theoskepastu (not preserved) near Kalopanayotis in Cyprus (there is no inscription on the icon itself).

Iconographic and epigraphic analogies of V. and. belong to the XIII-XIV centuries, which indicates its possible creation as a copy of one of the shrines of this era, associated with the Blachernae Church. 20 years after the icon was brought to Russia, due to its dilapidation, a major restoration was required, therefore, perhaps, a genuine ancient relic. The need for making a copy or for V.'s restoration and. could arise in the 2nd half. - con. XV century., When after the tour. conquests pl. shrines were damaged or irretrievably lost. T. o., V. and. can be dated to the 2nd half. 15th century

The most famous are 3 copies of V. and., also made in relief. One of them in the XVIII-XIX centuries. was in the Vysokopetrovsky monastery in Moscow, where she was donated by the Dubrovsky family, then was transferred to the State Historical Museum, now in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed. Virgin in St. Simonov in Moscow. The other - the family shrine of the Golovins - was invested by them in the Savior Blachernae Monastery with. Dedenev near the city of Dmitrov, in present. time in TsMiAR. These copies, exactly repeating the size and iconography of the Kremlin original, were made in 1701 and 1705. in the technique of wooden relief with tempera painting and had similar precious salaries with a chased text of the legend about the salvation of Constantinople from the invasion of enemies. The creators of the copies were aware that V. and. is a reliquary. On the backgrounds and crowns of the icons, special recesses were made for St. relics. Another copy (7th century - dated by G.V. Sidorenko, now in the State Tretyakov Gallery) belonged to the Stroganov family, and from the middle. 18th century Golitsyn and was kept in their estate - with. Vlakhernsky (Kuzminkakh) near Moscow. The first documentary mention of it dates back to 1716. This copy has a higher relief and is made entirely using the wax-mastic casting technique. The possibility of making such copies is evidenced by a document containing instructions on the composition of the mastic and casting, from the collection of the 17th century: “On the compilation of the icon, the decree on how the image is arranged of the Blachernae Most Holy Theotokos” (published in the 19th century). The unusual technique, differences in iconography, as well as the family legends of the Stroganovs and Golitsyns about bringing not one, but 2 icons to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, gave rise to assumptions about the greater antiquity of the icon. There is information about other relief and pictorial repetitions of the miraculous image.

Importation in the 17th century to Moscow V. i. is part of a purposeful process of collecting the shrines of Russian. state-tion, aware of himself as the heir of Nov. Rome - K-field, guardian of Orthodoxy. Attitude towards Russian. the king as the future liberator of the Greeks, and not only the hope of rich alms prompted the Greek. hierarchs and merchants to bring to Moscow relics revered by all Christ. peoples. Many of these relics, after the destruction of the K-field by the crusaders and the Turks, ended up in the hands of private individuals.

Source: Opisi Mosk. Assumption Cathedral from the beginning. 17th century to 1701 // RIB. T. 3. Stb. 667-670.

Lit.: Levshin A . East description of the capital church in Russia Mosk. large Assumption Cathedral and the resumption of the first three Moscow. cathedrals: Assumption, Annunciation and Arkhangelsk. M., 1783. S. 28, 144-145; Snegirev I . Moscow monuments. antiquities. M., 1842-1845. pp. 16-17; Kazansky P. The village of Novospasskoye, Dedenevo, also called Vlakherna. M., 1847. S. 17. Note. 9, 10 on p. 81-83; Kapterev N . The nature of Russia's relations to the Orthodox. East in the 16th and 17th centuries. M., 1885. S. 75, 80, 83, 85-89, 98; Kondakov N . P . Byzant. churches and monuments of the K-field. Od., 1886. S. 23; he is. Christ monuments. art on Athos. SPb., 1902. S. 142, 148-151; he is. Iconography of the Mother of God. T. 2. S. 187-189; Savior Blachernae cenobitic monastery. M., 1894. S. 20; Uspensky A . AND . Royal icon painters. pp. 195, 354; Poretsky N . The village of Vlakhernskoye, the estate of Prince. S. M. Golitsyna. M., 1913. S. 40-42; Greek-Russian communications ser. XVI - beginning. 18th century: Greek. dock you mosk. storage: Cat. vyst. / Comp. B. L. FONKICH. M., 1991. Cat. No. 48, 56; Sokolova I . M . Icon "Our Lady of Blachernae" from the Assumption Cathedral, Moscow. Kremlin // DRI. SPb., 1997. [Issue:] Issled. and attribution. pp. 413-427; she is. Greek relief icon "Odegetria Hodegetria Blachernae" // Rus. wooden sculpture of the 15th-18th centuries: Cat. M., 2003. App. 2. S. 282-287; "The Legend of the Blachernae Icon of the Virgin": [Public] // Peace of God. 1999. No. 1(4). pp. 24-29; Fonkich B . L . Miraculous Icons and St. relics of Christ. East in Moscow in the middle. 17th century // Essays on feudal Russia. M., 2001. Issue. 5. S. 83-89; Sidorenko G. AT . Icon "Our Lady of Blachernae" in the collection. State Tretyakov Gallery: Some results of research // Russia and Vost.-Christ. world: Medieval. plastic. Old Russian. sculpture: Sat. Art. / Ed.-stat. A. V. Ryndina. M., 2003. Issue. 4. S. 67-77.

I. M. Sokolova

Brief history reference

Tradition connects the origin of the Blachernae Icon with the same miraculous image of the Mother of God Hodegetria, painted by the Evangelist Luke, which in the 5th century was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople by Queen Evdokia, the wife of Emperor Theodosius. The icon, already in those days revered as miraculous, was placed in the Virgin Church in Blachernae, where traditionally there were travel icons of the Byzantine emperors who accompanied them on military campaigns. The Jerusalem shrine has taken a worthy place among the portable images as the main protector in all national disasters.

Blachernae, this small place on the banks of the Bosporus, near Constantinople, became famous for more than one sacred event. In 474, honest robes of the Virgin, brought from Palestine, were placed in another Mother of God church located in this area. The memory of this event is celebrated by the church on July 2/15 as the Deposition of the Robe. In the same church, a miraculous vision of the Mother of God to Blessed Andrei the Holy Fool took place, which we honor as one of the most beloved holidays in Russia - Intercession.

There is another legendary version of the origin of the miraculous Blachernae image. According to her, the icon was created by the Christians of the city of Nicomedia at the beginning of the 4th century, during the era of fierce persecution by the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Having collected the ashes of the martyrs of Nicomedia and mixed it with wax mastic, the masters fashioned the image of the Mother of God with the Child, which later ended up in the Blachernae Church of Constantinople.

In 626, during the siegeConstantinople by the Persians and Avars, the miraculous image was carried by Patriarch Sergius with prayer singing along the walls of the city. In memory of the subsequent deliverance from the invasion of foreigners, as well as in honor of other victories won thanks to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, it was established annually on Saturday of the fifth week of Great Lent to celebrate the feast of the Praise of the Most Holy Theotokos (“Saturday Akathist”). Initially, the celebration was celebrated only in the Blachernae Church in Constantinople, but in the ninth century the feast was included in the charter of the monastery of the Monk Sava the Sanctified and in the Studian charter, and then included in the Lenten Triod and became the common property of all Orthodox Church. Then, in 626, in honor of the miraculous image, a pious custom was introduced annually in great post to transfer the icon from Blachernae to the imperial palace, where the shrine remained as a guest until Monday of Bright Week.

The long stay of the Blachernae Icon in Constantinople became famous for numerous miracles of healing. Washing their eyes with water from a spring located right next to the temple, many blind people received full return lost vision.

In the 8th century, iconoclastic heresy agitated Constantinople. Many miraculous images were either destroyed or desecrated and defiled. It was at this time, as the “Tale of the Blachernae Icon of the Theotokos” tells, that in order to save the image, “some pious men took at night from the Blachernae Church the honest icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” and carried it to the monastery of Pantokratorov. There they hid her in the church wall and, having lighted a lamp before her, laid them with stones. The icon remained in such secrecy for about a hundred years, until the death of the last clerics.” The shrine remained in its secret refuge for about a hundred years, until the restoration of icon veneration, when the miraculous image was again found in the wall of the monastery, where the lampada still miraculously continued to burn, and returned to the Blachernae Church with great triumph.

The events of the time of iconoclasm were only the beginning of the wanderings and misadventures of the miraculous image. In the era of the Latin invasion, when the Crusaders captured Constantinople, the Venetians transferred the icon to the monastery of Pantokrator, from where it was again returned to Blachernae after their exile (in its historical place the icon was seen by Russian pilgrims Stefan Novgorodets, deacon Alexander, deacon Ignatius and Zosima). Another century later, in 1453, with the final fall of Byzantium and the capture of the Orthodox Empire by the TurksThe Blachernae icon left Constantinople and was hidden in the patriarchy, from where, for greater safety, it was transferred to Mount Athos, which the Mohammedans did not dare to destroy.

The further history of the icon is already inextricably linked with the Russian land. In 1654, as a sign of the special spiritual connection between the two powers, the miraculous image was presented to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. According to the records of the 17th century, on October 16, 1653, by the “zeal and prayerful sobriety” of Patriarch Nikon, the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God was brought to Moscow and revealed to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and “all the Orthodox people” at the Execution Ground on Red Square. Then, with all honors, the image was transferred to the Assumption Cathedral and placed in the chapel of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. As Pavel Aleppsky, who visited Moscow a year later, writes, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich reverently accepted the shrine and “trimmed everything with silver, gold and precious stones, took her with him to the war and now, upon returning, he carried in front of him ... Except for the face and hands of the Lady and the Lord, nothing is visible from her, everything else is covered with gold.

From the time of his accession in the Assumption Cathedral of the Russian capitalthe glorified patroness of Constantinople most directly entered the Moscow liturgical use. Every year on the fifth Saturday of Great Lent in the Dormition Cathedral, in front of the image of the Blachernae Mother of God, which was specially placed in the center of the church on the lectern for this purpose, the great Mother of God Akathist was read. This custom was observed in the second half of the eighteenth century. An important place was given to the miraculous image in the annual celebration of the church new year: according to the "Officer" of the Assumption Cathedral, on the first day of the "new summer" (September 1), the image of Blachernae was placed in one of the most honorable places, on the lectern "against the Vladimir Mother of God."

In 1812, during the invasion of Napoleon, the miraculous image lost its precious riza and was severely damaged, so that later, for strength, the icon had to be cut into a cypress board and a new silver riza was made for it.

During the years of the revolution, when the Kremlin was closed, the Blachernae Icon was moved from the Assumption Cathedral to the nearby Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, where the shrine was still available for worship for some time. However, in 1931 this church was also closed and demolished, and the miraculous image was taken back to the Kremlin. Since then, the shrine has been included in the collection of the State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin, where by the providence of God it has been preserved unharmed to this day.

The celebration of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God takes placeApril 3/16 and July 7/20.

Iconography

Rather small, the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God is a relief bust image of the Mother of God, belonging to the Hodegetria type. On the left hand of the Virgin is written a high seated Infant, right hand blessing with a two-fingered sign of the cross, and in the left holding a folded scroll. When the icon was renovated in 1813, new Greek inscriptions were made on it: “Lady of the Blachernae Convent” and “Various Treasure”, which were preserved until the last restoration carried out at the All-Russian Restoration Center named after academician I. E. GrabarYES. Dunaev. The original Greek inscription on the icon, revealed as a result of the restoration, read: "God-protected", which perfectly reflects the difficult fate of this ancient shrine.

Style

Quite rare, especially among miraculous images, is the very technique in which the icon of the Blachernae Mother of God is made: this is a relief image,carved in woodand coveredwaxy. Fine modeling with paints has already been done on a layer of wax covering the figures of the Virgin and Child. Moreover, the wax mastic itself is made by a mixture of holy relics and a fragrant composition, which gives a special holiness to the Blachernae image,which is also a kind of reliquary.

The unusual technique of the miraculous image gives a certain effect of emotional impact. As Pavel Aleppsky, a well-known traveler and chronicler who visited Moscow in early 1655, wrote: “This icon is not painted with paints, but as if bodily or depicted with mastic, because parts of its body strongly protrude from the surface of the board, to the great surprise of the beholder, inspiring awe … She seems to be embodied.”

According to modern researchers, based on iconographic and stylistic analysis, the icon was created no earlier than the 7th century, and the oldest surviving paint layer dates back to the second half of the 10th century.V - early XVI centuries. The later origin of the miraculous image and, accordingly, some inaccuracies in the church "Tale" about it in no way detract from its spiritual value for the Orthodox world.

Miraculous and locally venerated lists from the icon

The reason for the relatively low prevalence in Russia of temples dedicated to the Blachernae Icon and lists from it (less than five are known) was the unique technique described above, in which the miraculous image was executed.

The most famous copy of the icon, made in the same technique, but with a higher relief and completely poured out of wax, according to legend, was brought from Byzantium together in a miraculous way. The list was placed in a specially built for himBlachernae Church in the village of Kuzminki (belonged to the Stroganovs until 1757, then passed to the Golitsyns, now it is located within the boundaries of Moscow). Now this list is stored in the Tretyakov Gallery, in the current temple in Kuzminki, beloved by Muscovites, there is a picturesque copy of a good, in ancient traditions, writing.

The second of the old lists from the Blachernae icon, created in the second half of the 17th century and completely repeating the dimensions and iconography of the original, was inChurch of Sergius of Radonezh, Moscow Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery . The nimbus around the face of the Virgin, just like an ark, as well as a heavily recessed background around the figures and five round recesses on the Savior’s nimbus, were intended to accommodate numerous particles of relics covered in wax. The relief image itself is made in wood, covered with gesso and painted with tempera. After the closing of the monastery, the carved icon was kept in the funds of the State Historical Museum. At present, the image resides in MoscowChurch of the Nativity of the Virgin in Stary Simonov.

The third, the most famous of the lists from Blachernae, also made using the wax-mask technique, was created in 1705, judging by the inscription preserved on it, and came to the representativesnoble family Golovins, who made the image his family shrine. The icon was placedto the Golovins' family estate temple in the village of Dedenevo (also known as Novospasskoye) near the town of Dmitrov near Moscow, where the holy image is to this day. In the middle of the 19th century, one of the representatives of the illustrious family, the widowed Anna Golovina, with the consent of her children, decided to arrange a women's dormitory at the manor church in order to then turn it into a monastery. In 1854, the pious widow's wish was granted. Before the revolution, the Spaso-Vlakherna monastery was one of the most comfortable in the whole Central Russia- with a majestic cathedral, a high bell tower. Asceticism in the monasteryover three hundred residents. At present, the monastery has been restored.