Dear Friends!

We continue to acquaint you with the Artistic Heritage of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

This is a rare iconographic work from the Preserve collections - Saint Isidore of Pelusium icon of the 19th century (KPL-Z-867).

Saint Isidore of Pelusium (the 5th century) came from Alexandria. He is known as the author of theological works, who left us a rich epistolary heritage (about 2000 editions). As a young man, Isidore went to Mount Pelusium, where he began to live as a hermit. During the trip, he met John Chrysostom and became his disciple, devoting his entire life to Christian preaching.

In 1858–1860, Isidore Nikolsky was the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Halych. It is quite probable that, according to an unwritten tradition, the icon of a saint having the same name as metropolitan that is St. Isidore of Pelusium icon was painted at that time. He is depicted twice: sitting in a cave at work and standing with a book in his hands. The ascetic landscape around Isidore - bare rocks, stones on the ground is complemented by a harsh winter landscape in the distance (a very rare landscape for iconography). There the artist presented snow-covered spruces, a river bound by ice, inaccessible points of ice peaks, a sunset of a cold lemon shade, characteristic of this time of year. Dark purple clouds are parted like drapes over Isidore. In heaven, Christ and the angels bless the Saint with the cross.

The icon was restored in the Preserve by Oksana Bilak in 2017.

The text was prepared by Olena Pitateleva, senior research worker

Research Division for the Study of Artistic Heritage

Illustration

Saint Isidore of Pelusium Icon. The 19th century. KPL-Z-867

#ArtisticHeritage

#МистецькаСпадщина