By Alina Kondratiuk | National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts (Kyiv, Ukraine), National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”
Description
Christ in Glory is an icon from the second half of the 16th century from the region of Galicia. This region is a historical and geographical region in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including modern southeastern Poland and western Ukraine. The icon measures 124,0 × 93,0 × 2,4 cm in its current condition. Its size indicates that it was designed to be displayed in the sovereign tier of iconostasis.
Christ is presented here as Pantokrator, the King of Glory, Teacher, and Judge. He is enthroned and depicted in triple radiance. He blesses with His right hand and holds an open Gospel book in His left hand. His figure is wrapped in red diamond-shaped radiance inscribed in a blue mandorla. Within the mandorla, the Heavenly Powers are represented, including both seraphim and cherubim. Its oval is imposed on a concave red rectangle that has symbols of the Evangelists depicted in its corners. The feet of Christ are placed on a footstool depicting the Heavenly Powers in the shape of winged rings full of eyes.
The icon comes from the Eastern Christian church of the Intercession of the Virgin in the village of Matche, Chelm region (Chelm is a city in southeastern Poland). At the end of the 19th century, the icons were stored in the Chelm Church-Archaeological Museum at the Orthodox Brotherhood of the Holy Mother of God. After the Second World War, the icon was transported to Kyiv, and since 1945 it has been kept in the collection of the National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”.
The icon was painted on wooden boards using the tempera technique on gesso. The color of the icon is based on a combination of red, blue, and brown. It is enriched with the light of golden assists on the folds of Christ's clothes. A carved gesso ornament is placed around the perimeter of the icon and on Christ's nimbus.
Significance
The Christ in Glory icon is an outstanding work of art of Ukrainian artistic and spiritual culture. In the history of Ukrainian iconography, the 16th century is the period of gradual departure from centuries-old traditions of Byzantine art and the transition to the new artistic and imaginative system. Nevertheless, the Christ in Glory icon is an example of a local 16th-century icon painting that appealed to strict dogmatic teaching. It shows that Hesychast ideas, common in Byzantine and Eastern Christian countries during that period, were also known in the regions of Ukraine in the 16th century. Only in Kyiv, aside from other Ukrainian cities, there were five cave monasteries that were functioning as the centers of this Christian teaching.
The icon displays a triumphant image. It embodies the idea of Tabor Light central to Hesychast ideals. This “uncreated” nature of the Light of Tabor is symbolized by aureoles of different configurations around the figure of Christ. The icon is a distinguished work of art entered into the State Register of National Cultural Property of Ukraine, has exceptional cultural value, as well as historical, artistic, and scientific significance. It is an example of the almost lost Ukrainian artistic heritage of the 16th century from the Сhelm region. The origin of the icon from the church of the village of Matche was documented, which is rare for the monuments of the 16th century.
The village of Matche is located on the western bank of the Bug River, 40 km from the city of Chelm. An Orthodox Church’s parish is mentioned in a document from 1535. In 1619, the parish became Uniate. Archival information about the church itself is brief and begins only in 1767. It is known that due to the dilapidation of the temple, a new church of the same dedication was built in 1775. In 1875, when this region of Poland became a part of the Russian Empire, the parish became Orthodox again. The Russians built a second new church in 1909-1911. Both churches were destroyed before World War II.
The icon adapts the style of the so-called mature Palaiologan Renaissance, and its iconography is connected with the development of Ukrainian iconostasis of the 16th century. It has been proven that the icon was intended for the sovereign tier of iconostasis, although until recently it was believed that the “Christ in Glory” icons were to be presented in the Deësis tier. This hypothesis was proven through the analysis of a number of Ukrainian iconostases of that time and archival materials about iconostases that have not been preserved. In many cases to the right of the Royal Doors was placed the icon of Christ in Glory, and to the left - the icon of the Mother of God with Praise.
The color of the icon is enriched by the shine of golden highlights on the folds of Christ's garments, which is a distinguishing feature of Ukrainian icon painting of this period. The ornament carved in gesso around the perimeter of the icon and on Christ’s nimbus was typical of the period for the Galician region. The text in the Gospel book in the Hand of Christ is written in Church Slavonic. This is a quote from the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 25:34b). It says: “Come, you who have the blessing of my Father, into the kingdom made ready for you before the world was”.
Analogies to the icon by origin and style are as follows:
1) the “Christ in Glory” icon from the village of Zhuravyna (beginning of the 16th century, Lviv National Museum);
2) the “Christ in Glory” icon from the village of Korostno (2nd quarter of the 16th century, Lviv National Museum);
3) the “Christ in Glory” icon from the village of Liskovate (2nd quarter of the 16th century, Lviv National Museum);
4) the “Christ in Glory” icon of unknown origin (1st half of the 16th century, Lviv National Museum).
These related icons help us trace the development of the iconography of this subject and the stylistic changes that took place during the 16th century in the “Christ in Glory” icons. This work allows us to understand some specific features of the Early Modern Ukrainian icon and to realize its fundamental difference from the icons of other regions of Europe, where the Orthodox religion was widespread.
Further Reading
The Glory of Ukraine: Sacred Images from the 11th to the 19th Centuries. Bethesda, MD: Foundation for International Arts & Education, 2010.
This book reproduces in handsome full-page color plates the many icons, mainly from the collections of the National Preserve "Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra" and the Lviv National Museum Named for Andrei Sheptytsky. In addition, it encompasses the historical, cultural, and political circumstances of the mentioned period.
The World of Ukrainian Icon [album-catalogue]. Kyiv: "Antikvar" Publishing House, 2015.
The album presents more than 100 icons from the National Preserve "Kyiv–Pechersk Lavra" and private collections, including the "Christ in Glory" icon of the 16th century from Galicia. Edition in Ukrainian and English.
Helytovych, Maria. Ukrainian icons "Salvation in Glory". Lviv: "Drukarski Kunshti" Publishing House, 2005.
The catalog presents the development of the "Christ in Glory" theme in Ukrainian icon painting of the mid-15th to mid-17th centuries. Dozens of icons on this subject from the museum collections of Ukraine, Poland, and Slovakia have been published. Edition in Ukrainian.
Miliaeva, Lada, and Maria Helytovych. The Ukrainian Icon of the 11th-18th Centuries. Kyiv: Derzhavni Zibrannia Ukrainy, 2007.
This is the most comprehensive account of the history of Ukrainian iconography in English. It offers consistent historical information based on archival material, a thorough discussion of the origin of icons, the manner of their artists, and their place in the European artistic milieu.
Sygowski, Paveł. "Nieco informacji o cerkwi w Matczu i jej wyposażeniu – w świetle materialów z Archiwum Państwowego w Lublinie" [Some information about the church in Matczu and its furnishings, in the light of materials from the State Archive in Lublin]. Rocznik Chełmski 14 (2010): 211–224.
Based on archival materials, the article describes in detail the history of the Eastern Christian church of the Intercession of the Virgin of Matche, Chelm region village. Edition in Polish.
This contribution was sponsored by the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross.
![Christ in Glory icon, middle to the 2nd half of the 16th century, Galicia. Provenance: From the end of the 19th century until 1945, the icon was kept in the collection of the Church and Archaeological Museum in Chelm (Poland). (source: National Preserve "Kyiv–Pechersk Lavra"]](/media/items/01_f43nHBQ.jpg)