DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0440
CHAPTERTWO.THE ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME | 437
shining mandorla. In the Akhtala iconographic programme this image
is perceived as a kind of reflection of the «great theophany» depicted in
the «Transfiguration» on the arched entrance into the south-west com-
partment. The waist-length depictions of the martyrs below the «Trans-
figuration» emphasise the connection between the two appearances of
Christ in the shining brilliance of divine glory. Only the name «Ana-
nios» (feast day, 27 January) has been preserved by the first of these
three portraits. The Life of the saint permits us to note the clear coinci-
dences with the story of the martyrs of Sebaste. In the dungeon St Ana-
nios had a vision of Christ and the dove of the Holy Spirit and he was
executed by being thrown into the sea. Beside him here, probably, were
depicted his guards who became Christians and shared with him a mar-
tyr’s fate. The unusual disposition of the series of martyrs who evoke
direct associations with the Sebaste saints brings the «Transfiguration»
and «Forty martyrs» closer together. The images of the martyrs placed
alongside the theophany appear as a reminiscence of the sacrificial suf-
fering which is in strict accordance with the liturgical interpretation of
the history of salvation.
The theme of theophany also links the «Forty martyrs» with the
«Baptism» which is located above the «Transfiguration» and is extend-
ed in the John the Baptist cycle on the vault of the south-west com-
partment. Z. Gavrilovic has studied this aspect of the symbolism of the
«Forty martyrs»189 190 191. The descent of the heavenly light on the martyrs
standing in water was compared in Byzantine theology with baptism.
Such a parallel is echoed in the two kontakion of Romanos Melodos on
the feast of the Forty Martyrs and in the homilies devoted to the saints
by Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa.
This comparison also found expression in Byzantine iconographic
programmes. In St Sophia in Kiev, for instance, the «Forty martyrs» are
located in the baptistery while a depiction of the «Baptism» covers the
conch of the apse192. In the murals of the narthex at Lesnovo (1349) the
189 On the origins, symbolism and basic variants of the iconographic motif of crowning, see Wal-
ter Chr. Marriage Crowns in Byzantine Iconography//Zograf, 10 (1979), pp. 83-91.
190 GavrilovicZ. The Forty in Art //The Byzantine Saint Birmingham, 1981, pp. 190-194.
191 See Lazarev V.N. Old Russian mosaics and frescoes XI-XV centuries. Moscow, 1973, p. 129. -
In Russian, see Bibliography.
192 See Gavrilovic Z. The Representation of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the Illustration of
the Parable of the Virgins (Matthew 25,1-13) in the narthex of Lesnovo//Zograf, II (1980), p. 53.
shining mandorla. In the Akhtala iconographic programme this image
is perceived as a kind of reflection of the «great theophany» depicted in
the «Transfiguration» on the arched entrance into the south-west com-
partment. The waist-length depictions of the martyrs below the «Trans-
figuration» emphasise the connection between the two appearances of
Christ in the shining brilliance of divine glory. Only the name «Ana-
nios» (feast day, 27 January) has been preserved by the first of these
three portraits. The Life of the saint permits us to note the clear coinci-
dences with the story of the martyrs of Sebaste. In the dungeon St Ana-
nios had a vision of Christ and the dove of the Holy Spirit and he was
executed by being thrown into the sea. Beside him here, probably, were
depicted his guards who became Christians and shared with him a mar-
tyr’s fate. The unusual disposition of the series of martyrs who evoke
direct associations with the Sebaste saints brings the «Transfiguration»
and «Forty martyrs» closer together. The images of the martyrs placed
alongside the theophany appear as a reminiscence of the sacrificial suf-
fering which is in strict accordance with the liturgical interpretation of
the history of salvation.
The theme of theophany also links the «Forty martyrs» with the
«Baptism» which is located above the «Transfiguration» and is extend-
ed in the John the Baptist cycle on the vault of the south-west com-
partment. Z. Gavrilovic has studied this aspect of the symbolism of the
«Forty martyrs»189 190 191. The descent of the heavenly light on the martyrs
standing in water was compared in Byzantine theology with baptism.
Such a parallel is echoed in the two kontakion of Romanos Melodos on
the feast of the Forty Martyrs and in the homilies devoted to the saints
by Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa.
This comparison also found expression in Byzantine iconographic
programmes. In St Sophia in Kiev, for instance, the «Forty martyrs» are
located in the baptistery while a depiction of the «Baptism» covers the
conch of the apse192. In the murals of the narthex at Lesnovo (1349) the
189 On the origins, symbolism and basic variants of the iconographic motif of crowning, see Wal-
ter Chr. Marriage Crowns in Byzantine Iconography//Zograf, 10 (1979), pp. 83-91.
190 GavrilovicZ. The Forty in Art //The Byzantine Saint Birmingham, 1981, pp. 190-194.
191 See Lazarev V.N. Old Russian mosaics and frescoes XI-XV centuries. Moscow, 1973, p. 129. -
In Russian, see Bibliography.
192 See Gavrilovic Z. The Representation of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste and the Illustration of
the Parable of the Virgins (Matthew 25,1-13) in the narthex of Lesnovo//Zograf, II (1980), p. 53.