Dear Friends!

Take a trip to our virtual museum during your coffee or tea break and make your #quarantinediscoveries!

Admire unique cultural assets of the Museum Fund of Ukraine!

St. John the Long-suffering is one of the most revered Ancient Rus saints of the first half of the 12th century. His relics rest in the Near Caves of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Saint John is known for having struggled for decades with his bodily passions-temptations “by fasting, grieving and torturing himself, and carrying heavy chains all over his body”. For this feat, he was endowed with the gift of wonderworking. In 1644, under the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Archimandrite of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Petro Mohyla, he was canonized along with several dozen other Lavra monks.

The hat presented is a unique artwork of the late 17th - early 18th century. It was part of the vestments of St. John the Long-suffering. Such hats, consecrated on the relics of the saint, were used to heal the sick.

The artifact is made of cherry velvet and decorated with silver and gold threads in an exquisite embroidery technique of couching. The fine work of the embroiderers impresses with the art of making goldwork elements and contour sewing of faces and figures of saints with silk threads. The headdress is sewn from four wedges of fabric edged with a wide gold braid. Interestingly, each wedge is decorated with different embroidered images. Figures of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk, and St. Moses Uhryn at full height are embroidered on three sides. The pattern of the fourth side features the moment of the presentation of St. John the Long-suffering. It represents a chest-high image of the saint with two angels over him taking his soul to Jesus Christ.

The hat was restored by Inna Chernokapska, the fine art restorer of the Preserve, in the 1990s.

Let’s #stayathome and discover the beauties of the Preserve’s collection together!

#museumfromhome, #museumcoffeebreak, #museumteabreak