Khristiánskoe Chténie, 1891-2. I use the Russian form
iconostás, not ‘iconostasis’ which is neither Greek nor Russian. The Greek
tlnovooráa-íov means an oratory or icon-shrine. The Russian
iconostas is called in Greek from the Latin
templum in the sense of ‘purlin, horizontal beam’. pronounced
temblo it gave in Russian
tyabló (cf.
kolyáda from
kalendae), used for the tiers of icons on the high iconostases. See Golubinski,
Hist. Russ. Ch.2 I. ii, pp. 206-8, 214.
32
Chin means ‘order, rank’, used of different orders of Angels or Saints; but it has an idea of completeness which accounts for its use for the ‘ Complete Deesis’. A chin with the Deesis, two Archangels and two Saints was called a Sed’mítsa, a hebdomas, which might be expected to mean a week.
33
Yet the Greeks sometimes apply it to the great doors at the west end of a church, and call the screen doors ‘Holy’.
34
Kiot; one or more icons may be set in a frame or cupboard generally adorned with a pediment above and glazed in front: this makes a kind of shrine and is called a kiot. Or it may form a kind of triptych, often with many small iconic scenes painted upon the doors, pediment, and surround.
35
Christ giving the Eucharist in both kinds to the Apostles.
36
The three Angels that appeared to Abraham.
37
The type of Our Lady of Blachernae bearing Emmanuel in a round medallion, vide infra.
38
N. P. Kondakov, Les Émaux Byzantins pp. 385-8; Rússkiye Kiddy (Russian de la Collection Zvenigorodskoi, 1892, Pl. 28, Hoards), 1896, i, Pl. viil. to hang along the forehead; such a string is called ryásno. An icon was swathed in an embroidered silk towel (poloténtse, plat) to keep off dust, and below it hung an embroidered pall (pelená).
39
I think the word must be Slavonic, but our author connects it with some sort of adornment of Imperial clothes, Codinus, de Offic. iii. 3. E.H. M.
40
I hear that a similar stripping of rizy has gone on since the revolution and has exposed much interesting work. E. H. M
41
Risúnok, ‘drawing’, answers in meaning to the French dessin, both ‘drawing’ and ‘design’; the verb risovát’ comes through the Polish from the German reissen, which besides its ordinary sense ‘to tear’ means ‘to score, to draw with a sharp point, to draw in outline’, being connected with ritzen and the same word as our write: scribo, show the same original meaning. The uses of the Slavonic pisát’, originally ‘to paint or decorate’ (pingo may be allied), means ‘write’ as well as ‘paint’, and ‘paint’ both of walls, tsérkov’ podpísana, ‘a church was frescoed’, and of icons, ikonostás napísan, ‘a screen was furnished with icons’. Mr. N. B. Jopson, Reader in Slavonic Philology at King’s College, London, allows me these etymologies. The ‘stylus’ with which icon-painters draw contours upon the gesso ground. From pisát’ comes pis’mó, the ordinary word for a ‘letter’, but specially used of the ‘style or school’ of icons. Less important varieties are called poshib (lit. ‘stroke’) = ‘local or personal manners’. The equivalent western words stil, shkóla, manera, came into Russian with western painting but are often used of icons. E. H. M.
42
In particular, let me recommend both for exactness of observation and fullness of illustrations that admirable work of Gabriel Millet, Recherches sur l’Iconographie de l’Évangile aux XIVe, XVe et XVIe siècles, 670 gravures, Paris, 1916. N. P. K.
43
For a similar division of labour under Akbar vide Percy Brown, Indian Painting under the Mughals, Oxford, 1924, p. no. This is not the only point of resemblance between Russian and Indian art at that time.
44
After N. P. Kondakov, Iconogr. of Our Saviour, lith. 9. Inscr. above, ‘Holy Trinity, Father, Son, the Lord of Sabaoth, IC. XC’: below, Obraz Otechestvo, ‘Icon of Paternity’. ZnamyaVasiliya ïKondakova Usoltsa, ‘drawn by Basil Kondakov of Usolye’.
45
I added this to the author’s selection of plates because it illustrates the ways of icon-painters and affords an example of perhaps the most important composition which he had not included. E. H. M.
46
Kondakov, Athos, p. 105, Pl. xiv. This icon seems to be that seen in the eleventh century by the Nóvgorod pilgrim Antony among the holy things of Constantinople: he calls it ‘Nicholas split forehead’, from the damage it has suffered: another copy of the same type is at Vich in Catalonia: ib., p. 108, f. 50; Mon. Piot, vii, 1900, p. 95, Pl. XI.
47
For these vestments see A. Fortescue, The Orthodox Eastern Church, pp. 405 sqq. The felón’, paenula, is the chasuble at first made of soft stuff: when made of stiff material it was for convenience short-ened in front instead of being cut away at the sides as in the West. A special variety oí felón’ was entirely covered with a pattern of crosses (polistávri); this was reserved for bishops: the sakkos is of the shape of a Western dalmatic, i.e. slit up the sides and with sleeves; originally peculiar to the patriarch, it is now worn by all bishops; but it does not commonly appear upon early icons; it is worn by S. Alexis in the seventeenth century. The actual sakkos of S. Photius is figured by Millet, ap. Michel, Histoire de l’Art, III. ii, p. 957. Our author appears to use sakkos in the sense of polistavri, the vestment in which nearly all bishops are portrayed.
48
One of the differences between Greeks and Latins was the position of the fingers in blessing: the earlier Greeks folded down the thumb, fourth and fifth fingers and by extending ‘two fingers’ (dvupérstie), the index and middle finger, symbolized the dual nature of Christ, cf. Mon. Piot, vii (1900), pp. 95, 96. The Latins put thumb, index and middle to-gether to typify the Trinity. The Greeks later adopted a pose whereby the four letters were formed by the five fingers; this was called imenoslóvnoe, ‘name-word’. In the seventeenth century Nicon, Patriarch of Moscow, finding that many errors had crept into the Slavonic service books reformed them to the norm of the contem-porary Greek, but in many cases, such as this of the blessing, the Russians had preserved the more ancient usage. The innovations caused a great schism in the Church and were only forced upon it by the power of the State. The Old Believers who refuse still to accept them, had a special reverence for ancient icons, and to them is due the preservation of many most important examples (see infra).
49
It is hardly necessary to recall that the basis of the painting is a layer of gypsum and glue (gesso) spread upon the wood: Dionysius gives directions. Sometimes the wood is first covered with linen: cf. Theophilus, I. xix. See the editions by Hendrie (1847) and Ilg (1874), with English and German translations.
50
As I read it, the membrana (Hendrie reads membrina) or first coat was of yellow burnt white lead, natural white lead, and cinnabar or red ochre: if the face was ruddy, more red; if white, more white; if pale, prasinum was added. While the shadows were put in over this with posch, a
