![]() ![]() Ordinarily in this type, the dove represents the Holy Spirit, but the painter of this icon seems to have not quite grasped that, so gave it the cruciform halo and inscription abbreviation for Jesus. ![]() On the little footstool below the table is a footstool on which are the four nails used to crucify Jesus.Ītop the cushion on the larger table is a dove that oddly enough bears the cruciform halo peculiar to Jesus, and confirming that, we see the abbreviation IC XC just above it - signifying Isus Khristоs in Slavic ( Iesous Khristos in Greek) - “Jesus Christ.” The dove’s feet rest on the Book of the Gospels. In the center is a table on which is a cushion and a book, and behind it a cross flanked by the symbols of the Passion of Jesus, the spear at left, and the reed with a sponge at right. That on the right with the “Г” is Gavriil/Gabriel. That on the left, with the “M” above his head, is Mikhail/Michael. Let’s look more closely at the central portion relevant to today’s discussion.Īt left and right are two angels. Here is an example of its frequent use as part of an icon of the Страшный Суд - Strashnuiy Sud in a Balkan fresco - the “Terrible Judgment,” which in the West is generally called the “Last Judgment” or the “Second Coming.” Today we will look at an icon type that, while sometimes found as an element in other icons, is also seen on its own. Poor people could not afford the servants (more literally slaves) that we sometimes see in icons of the family members and relatives of Jesus. It is worth mentioning that while Protestants tend to think of Joseph and Mary as being rather poor, that is not the case in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Just as movie extras may appear in different movies, we also find the “peeking maid” in this mosaic segment depicting a quite different event - “The Prayer of the Holy Anne” (Ἡ Προσευχη Της Ἁγιας Αννης / He Proseukhe Tes Hagias Annes), in the monastery at Daphne/Daphni, Greece. She also pops up in the Sofiya Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine - this time peeking out at left: Here is the young female “extra” again, in the mosaic of the “Visitation” in the Basilica of San Marco in Venice: 1320 stone carving at the Cathedral of Orvieto, in Italy - the young woman holding up the curtain at right, watching Elizabeth and Mary embrace. ![]() We find her in Western Catholic iconography as well. In fact in discussions of Russian iconography, she is generally identified only as a sluzhanka (служанка), a female serving maid. This young woman has no name, but she is generally understood to be Elizabeth’s servant. ![]() This extra is female, and commonly appears as a young woman holding up the curtain of Elizabeth’s house, peeking out as Elizabeth and Mary meet. We encounter another “extra” in icons of the “Visitation,” the visit of the pregnant Mary to her also pregnant cousin Elizabeth. Suffice it to say that in some icons, Joseph and Mary and Jesus go unaccompanied, but we often find that boy or young man as an “extra,” sometimes in front, sometimes behind. There are still more variations on just who accompanied the family to Egypt in apocryphal texts, but I will not go into that now. He rose up, took me and my mother Mary, I sitting on her lap, Salome walking behind us, and we went down to Egypt.” “ Joseph was told by my Father in a vision. This is found in The History of Joseph the Carpenter: There is another tradition, however, which says the the person who goes with Joseph and Mary is not Joseph’s son, but rather Salome - often identified as the woman present at the birth of Jesus in the apocrypha. We see the boy leading the ass in this early Italian painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, more closely reflecting the excerpt from the Protoevangelium: “ And he saddled the ass, and set her upon it and his son led it, and Joseph followed.Īnd indeed, in some examples of the “Flight to Egypt” we do find the youth leading the ass, instead of walking behind it and carrying the traveling bag on a stick, as shown above. We read of Joseph in the Protoevangelium: He is often identified in discussions of iconography simply as their “servant.” However, in the apocryphal texts, the single male accompanying Joseph, Mary and Jesus is identified as a son of Joseph. Notice that he has no halo, and no name title above his head. This is the “extra.” He appears in some icons, but is omitted in others. However in this example there is a fourth character walking behind. The main characters in the narrative are Joseph at right, and Mary with the child Jesus, both riding. We often find such an “extra” in icons featuring the “Flight to Egypt.” In fact we saw one in a previous posting: Icons too have their “extras,” persons who appear in the scene but are generally given no name. In movies, an “extra” is an actor who appears in a scene - often in the background - but is not a major character and generally has no lines to speak and is not named in the credits. ![]()
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