Identifying Russian Icon
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Hi All:

    I got this icon for Christmas, and everything is in Russian. I would like to identify the personalities (their names are typically written above their images). Any and all detail would be greatly appreciated. I know that Our Lady has many titles in iconography and am wondering what is the specific title of this one also. I have a large Icon of Our Lady the Directress, (whose hand is pointing to Jesus), and this one looks similar, but want to be sure. Thanks in advance for your time and energy.

    http://romancatholicsacredmusic.com/seehear/russianIcon/index.html
  • DougS
    Posts: 793
    The one in the middle has a strong resemblance to the Theotokos of Vladimir. Rummaging around for a book I have on this and might be able to find the others.
    Thanked by 1francis
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,159
    Archangel Michael on the left. Vladimirskaya in the middle (see eg http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theotokos_of_Vladimir). Archangel Raphael on the right.
    (edited: Gabriel).
    Thanked by 2DougS francis
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Thanks guys.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    Andrew:

    Are you familiar with the Angelology of the seven Archangels? I have run into this in Tlaxcala when I went to see the Virgin of Guadalupe, where there are seven large statues of the seven archangels. I remember Uriel (head of Seraphim), and Jophiel but don't remember the other two.
  • Protasius
    Posts: 468
    I would have identified the right icon as Archangel Gabriel.
  • Andrew_Malton
    Posts: 1,159
    Protasius: quite right. I looked at the picture, read the sign, typed the wrong name. Francis: my apologies.
  • JDE
    Posts: 588
    Not to be a pest or anything, but the language is actually Old Church Slavonic, not Russian. Modern Russian no longer uses a number of those characters, for example the one at the end of "Vladimirskaya." Old Church Slavonic is a purely liturgical language at this point.
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