About the antimensions of the Orthodox Russian Church

See also the review: A few comments about I.I.’s antimenses. Sreznevsky The antimensions of the Russian Orthodox Church have not hitherto been the subject of special study. This could, among other things, be due to the lack of knowledge of historical data. A large number of antimensions have been preserved in the sacristies of cathedrals and churches of bishops' houses; but there were no descriptions of them in the press, and they did not serve as material for scientific research. Meanwhile, with the publication of accurate and detailed descriptions, many questions could be resolved regarding these sacred objects, which, in addition to their great significance in worship, have historical and archaeological significance, and could constitute a kind of church chronicle. For this study, the files of the archive of the Holy Governing Synod and the collection of antimensions stored in the sacristy of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, an inventory of which, compiled by the author of this work, is found here in the Appendix, served as an important source. At the same time, for a visual acquaintance with the Orthodox Russian antimensions, twenty-five drawings from them are added, in their actual size, exactly copied (outline) and engraved on stone by the artist A. A. Redkovsky. Written antimensions are indicated in the figures with letters, and printed ones - with numbers. Among the printed ones, the only ones not included are those found in the Proceedings of the First Moscow Archaeological Congress, 1869 (No. 5), and those whose printing began in the current century (Nos. 16–19). You might be interested in: