XXII. Икона Благовещения с космической символикой (к стр. 353).

When discussing the cosmic aspect of the Mother of God, we cannot pass over in silence the rather mysterious icon of the Annunciation, which I “found” in the church of the village of Novinsky, Nerekhta district, Kostroma province. I say “found,” because this icon was abandoned and lying somewhere on the windowsill, covered with such a layer of dust and dirt that the image was not visible at all. Having caught my eye during my confession, for some reason unknown to me, it attracted attention and, at the first opportunity, I again visited this village and began cleaning and washing the icon. After about two hours of work, an image appeared on the recessed golden field of the icon, which turned out to be of very fine workmanship, with many small details and figures, very carefully painted; I believe that there should be more than 150 figures. Judging by the composition, this icon dates back to either the end of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century. Its dimensions, I think, are 5 x 3 ½ inches, but I give them, as well as all further descriptions, mainly from memory, three years after I examined it. True, I tried to photograph her, but inconvenient shooting conditions and an inappropriate camera prevented this intention. Therefore, the schematic representation of the icon attached here was largely made from memory, after three years. The composition of the icon consists of three - dogmatic, church-historical and cosmological. The latter is not only the most interesting for us, but also occupies a central place in the icon; this, obviously, is the icon “itself,” while everything else is explanations and deepenings. What do we see here, in this core of the icon? What is the first thing the eye stops at? – This is a cinnabar-colored ring, speckled with gold stars. A square-shaped figure consisting of circular arcs is inscribed in this ring. In its middle is an isosceles triangle with the All-Seeing Eye, surrounded by radiance. On the sides of the square-shaped figure are four symbols of the seasons, with corresponding inscriptions, namely: a bare branch covered with snow and “winter”; flowers and "spring"; sheaf of ears of grain and “summer”; fruits (?) and “autumn”. Finally, in the spaces between the square-shaped figure and the ring, against the above symbols of the seasons, twelve small circles with symbols of the signs of the zodiac are depicted; These circles are divided into groups of three, according to the seasons. The background of each group corresponds to the season to which it belongs. Thus, the winter signs of the zodiac are depicted against the background of branches covered with snow; summer - against the backdrop of ripe fields; spring and autumn - against the backdrop of a green landscape. Ближайшею к этой, центральной, части композиции должно признать изображение Благовещения, расположенное по сторонам описанного выше круга. Слева, – для зрителя, – от круга находится вожженный седмисвещник, а над ним – Архангел в облаках. Справа же от круга и симметрично со свещником помещено весьма неясное изображение, смысл которого мне не удалось определить, а над ним – Приснодева. Выше Нее, справа, находится сияние и в нем – как будто лицо ( – солнце? – ), а слева – кружок с изображением Духа-Голубя, летящего вверх . Finally, in the upper part of the icon, among the clouds and hosts of angels and righteous people, God the Father (?) is depicted and, in front of him, a kneeling, angelic figure. The radiance emanating from Him partly ends with three concentric faces, made up of tiny angelic heads with outstretched wings, while partly it goes further, through them. – These angelic faces are written, respectively, against the background of three-color rings: the inner ring is greenish, the middle one is pink, the outer one is blue. What does this whole peculiar composition mean? Without undertaking to explain it - for this still requires careful study - I will only make a guess that it depicts the sayings of the akathist: the Most Holy Theotokos - “the sanctification of all earthly and heavenly elements” 885, “the blessing of all seasons” 886, for in the moment of the Annunciation, when creation, in the person of the Mother of God, received the Divinity, all is contained Eternity, and in Eternity - all the fullness of time. The Feast of the Annunciation, cosmically, is the holiday of the spring equinox: although currently the celebration of the Annunciation is 13 days behind the equinox 887, in the 2nd century the equinox was considered March 24, i.e., the holiday of spring. And just as the moment of the vernal equinox contains, as if in a grain, the entire fullness of the cosmic year, so in the feast of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin the entire fullness of the church year is contained, as in a bud. And further, both the cosmic year and the church year are images of the ontological year, - the year or the completeness of times and periods of all world history. The entire history of the world is contained in the Virgin Mary; and the Virgin Mary is entirely expressed in the moment of the Annunciation. It is this infinitely complete moment, this moment of the fullness of being, that the icon described here shows us in visual images. Akaf. Pokrovu, ik. 12. – By citing the words of the akath., we only wanted to clarify the theme of the icon, but, of course, we did not mean a direct connection, for this akath. composed much later than the icon.