Our Lady of the Don
| Our Lady of the Don | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Theophanes the Greek |
| Year | c. 1382 – c. 1395 |
| Type | Wood, tempera |
| Location | Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow |
Our Lady of the Don (Russian: Донская икона Божией Матери) is a 14th-century Eleusa icon representing the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus Christ. The icon, currently held in Tretyakov Gallery, in Moscow, displays an Eleusa composition.
History
The origins of the icon and the exact date of its creation are debated. In the donation book of the Donskoy Monastery, compiled in 1692, the icon was a gift from the Don Cossacks from Sirotinskaya to Dmitry Donskoyon on the eve of the Battle of Kulikovo (1380).[1][2] However, some researchers regard this account as a folklore and believe that the icon was painted after the Battle. Various descriptions of the icon depict different original locations of the icon. According to these versions—such as Oleg Ulyanov's interpretation—it was painted for the Dormition Cathedral in Simonov Monastery in Moscow; the icon was potentially transferred in 1567 to the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Ulyanov described that "they took the icons [...] for copying, and from Simonov [Monastery]".[3] According to Valentina Antonova, the icon was originally located in the Assumption Cathedral in Kolomna, built by order of Dmitry Donskoyo, where Theophanes the Greek c. 1382 – c. 1395 and his pupils presumably worked to create the fresco ensemble and the iconostasis.
See also
References
- ^ Гребневская летопись или повествование об образе чудотворном Пресвятой Владычицы и Приснодевы Марии [The Grebnev Chronicle or the Narrative about the Miraculous Image of the Most Holy Lady and Ever-Virgin Mary] (in Russian). 1471.
- ^ Zabelin, Ivan (1893). Историческое описание Московского ставропигиального Донского монастыря [Historical Description of the Moscow Stauropegial Donskoy Monastery] (in Russian). Moscow: A. I. Mamontov Printing House. p. 192.
- ^ Readings of the Imperial Society of Russian History and Antiquities (in Russian) (3 ed.). Moscow. 1847. pp. 19–20.
External links
- Media related to Our Lady of the Don at Wikimedia Commons
- Our Lady of the Don at the Pravoslavie.ru (in Russian).
- Byzantium: faith and power (1261-1557), an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Our Lady of the Don (88)