“Fadeless Color” ( “Fragrant Color” ) is an icon of the Virgin , revered in the Orthodox churches.
| Icon of the Mother of God Fadeless Color | |
|---|---|
 Our Lady of Fadeless Color, XVIII century, Tretyakov Gallery | |
| Date of appearance | XVII century |
| Location | the prototype is lost |
| Celebration date | April 3 (16) |
The creation of the image dates back to the XVII century on Mount Athos (according to other sources, the place of creation is Constantinople ). The literary basis of the image is the texts of the Byzantine akathists , in which the Virgin Mary (and even Christ) is compared with unfading and fragrant flowers. The artistic element was formed under the influence of the western tradition of iconography .
The icons of Our Lady of Fadeless Color are extremely diverse, which is typical for iconography of a later origin. At the same time, there is one obligatory detail in them - flowers that are placed in flowerpots or woven into garlands, adorn prosperous wands or are a pedestal depicting Christ and the Mother of God. Sometimes these icons have lengthy inscriptions. More often than not, Mary and the Baby wearing the icons of Our Lady of the unfading Color are dressed in royal clothes and crowns. Mary can be represented both waist-high and seated on the throne, may have an uncovered head. This indicates the heterogeneity of iconographic sources of icons.
One of the iconographic types - the Mother of God holds the baby of Christ on her left hand, and white lilies (sometimes roses or other flowers) hold either the Mother of God or Christ. Lilies in iconography are the symbolic flower of the Virgin Mary, her purity and purity, the unfading of her virginity [1] , they are presented by the archangel Gabriel of Our Lady on the day of the Annunciation . A rose as a queen of flowers and a universal symbol of love is also a flower of the Virgin. Another type - the Mother of God is facing the Infant, standing in the royal vestments at the high foot (throne), she supports him with her left hand, and in her right she has a rod that has flourished with paradise flowers ( allegory to the Old Testament image of the Mother of God as a “rod from the root of Jesse ”). There are other options.
The celebration in honor of the icon in the Orthodox Church takes place on April 3 (16) . Also, the celebration took place on December 31 ( January 13 ) [1] .
From the point of view of iconography, this icon is similar to the icon of the Mother of God “Fragrant Color”.
See also
- Madonna and Carnation
- Bread dispatcher
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary. - SPb. : Publisher P.P. Soykina , 1912.- T. II. - S. 1632.
Literature
- Fragrant color // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Icon of the Mother of God "Fadeless Color": Anthology / comp. Alexander Strizhev. - M .: Pilgrim, 2007 .-- 256 p. - ISBN 5-88060-087-4 .
- Tarasenko L. P. Icons of the Mother of God "Fadeless Color" in Russia // Filevsky readings: collection. - Vol. X. - 2003. - S. 400-413.