The icon first became famous in 1688. Euphemia. The sister of Patriarch Joachim, who had suffered for a long time from an incurable illness, during prayer heard a call to pray before the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow” and to order a prayer service with the blessing of water. Having fulfilled what was said, she received healing in front of the icon. Since that time, many sick and mourning people, turning to the Mother of God in prayer through Her miraculous icon, have been healed of illnesses and delivered from troubles. Before us is one of two iconographic views of the icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”: the Mother of God is depicted without the Eternal Child in her arms, surrounded by sufferers calling on Her name and holy angels. Before this image of the Mother of God, everyone who is offended and oppressed, who suffers in despair and sorrow, in search of protection and consolation, as well as with incurable ailments, who asks for the protection of orphans and the poor, who suffers from seizures, who has weakened hands, throat diseases and tuberculosis.

Prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary
in front of her icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow" Prayer 1
Hope of the unreliable, strength of the helpless, refuge of the overwhelmed, protection of the attacked, intercession of the offended, bread-loving, delight of the hungry, nectar of heavenly rest for those thirsty, Mother of the Most Blessed God, Most Blessed and Immaculate Virgin! I alone resort to You, to Your protection I wholeheartedly bow my knees, Lady. Do not despise crying and tears, the joy of those who cry! Even if my unworthiness and the damnation of my sins terrify me, but this whole-bearing image assures me, on it Your grace and power, like an inexhaustible sea, I see: the blind who have received their sight, the galloping lame, wandering as if under the canopy of Your charity, those who have been laid to rest, and those who have abounded at all times. ; Looking at these images of pardon, he came running, blind with his spiritual eyes and lame with his spiritual feelings. Oh, Unstoppable Light! Enlighten and correct me, weigh all my sorrow, weigh all misfortune, do not despise my prayer, O Helpful One! Do not disdain me, a sinner, do not despise me, a foul one; We know that you can do everything, the greatest will, oh my good hope, my hope comes from my mother’s breast. I am committed to You from the womb of my Mother, I am left to You, do not leave me, do not depart from me, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen. Prayer 2
To my queen, my hope, to the Mother of God, friend of the orphans, and strange intercessors, those who grieve with joy, those who are offended by the patroness! See my misfortune, see my sorrow; help me as I am weak, feed me as I am strange. Weigh my offense, resolve it like a will; for I have no other help but You, no other intercessor, no good comforter, except You, O Mother of God, for you will preserve me and cover me forever and ever. Amen. Prayer 3 Oh, Most Holy Lady Theotokos, Supreme Cherub and Most Honest Seraphim, God-chosen Youth, Joy to all who mourn! Give consolation to us who are in sorrow, for you have no other refuge and help from the imams. You are the only intercessor for our joy, and as the Mother of God and the Mother of Mercy, standing at the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity, you can help us, for no one who flows to You leaves in shame.
Hear also from us, now on the day of sorrow before Your icon and praying to You with tears, take away from us the sorrows and sorrows that are upon us in this temporary life, so that through Your omnipotent intercession we are not deprived of eternal, endless joy in the Kingdom of Your Son and Our God, to Him is due all glory, honor and worship, with His Originless Father, and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. Prayer 4
Oh, Most Holy Lady Theotokos, Most Blessed Mother of Christ God our Savior, Joy to all the sorrowing, visiting the sick, protection and intercessor of the weak, widows and orphans, patroness of the sad, all-reliable comforter of sad mothers, strength of weak babies, and always ready help and faithful refuge for all the helpless! You, O All-Merciful One, have been given grace from the Almighty to intercede for everyone and deliver them from sorrow and illness, since you yourself have endured fierce sorrow and illness, looking at the free suffering of Your beloved Son and Him crucified on the cross, seeing, when the weapon predicted by Simeon, the heart Yours will pass; In the same way, O Mother of loving children, listen to the voice of our prayer, comfort us in the sorrow of those who exist, as an intercessor faithful to joy, standing before the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity, at the right hand of Your Son, Christ our God, you can, if you wish, ask for everything useful to us; For this reason, with heartfelt faith and love from the soul, we fall to You, as the Queen and Lady, and we dare to cry out to You in psalms: hear, daughter, and see, and incline Your ear, hear our prayer, and deliver us from current troubles and sorrows; You fulfill the requests of all the faithful, as if they mourn, you fulfill joy, and you give peace and consolation to their souls, behold, behold our misfortune and sorrow, show us Your mercy, send comfort to our hearts wounded by sadness, show and surprise us sinners with the wealth of Your mercy, grant We receive tears of repentance to cleanse our sins and quench the wrath of God, so that with a pure heart, a good conscience and undoubted hope we may resort to Your intercession and intercession. Accept, our All-merciful Lady Theotokos, our fervent prayer offered to You, and do not reject us, unworthy of Your mercy, but grant us deliverance from sorrow and illness, protect us from all slander of the enemy and human slander, be our constant helper all the days of our lives. ours, for under Your maternal protection we will always remain safe and preserved by Your intercession and prayers to Your Son and God our Savior, to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship, with His Beginning Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
Amen.

Origin unknown. Entered the museum until 1951.
Restored in 2002 by L. D. Rybtseva.

The image of the Mother of God, surrounded by stamps with illustrations of the Prayer Book of the Blessed Virgin Mary, can be considered as one of the variants of the composition “Praise of the Mother of God”.

All parts of the icon are united by inscriptions quoting the Theotokos troparion: “O Virgin Mary, Hail, blessed Mary, the Lord is with Thee” (top: “Hail, Virgin Mary, blessed Mary”; in the middle: “Gracious Mary, the Lord is with you”). In the center of the icon, on the clouds, surrounded by angels, is the Mother of God and Child on a throne. The Child Christ in a golden vestment sits on the left hand of the Mother of God, resting his feet on her knees. In his left hand is a scroll, his right is raised high in a blessing gesture. A similar image of Christ Emmanuel was traditionally perceived as a symbol of the Incarnation and atoning sacrifice. Christ appears as the ruler and Savior of the world, consecrating the true temple of his flesh - the Mother of God.

The Mother of God seated on the throne is likened to the house of Divine Wisdom and the throne of the sacrificial Lamb. She is dressed in red clothes with a gold pattern and a white, one-piece shawl covering her head, without ends falling over her shoulders. In her right hand, the Mother of God holds a scepter, and the angels crown her with a crown. These attributes indicate not only the royalty, but also the ever-virginity of the Mother of God: the crown symbolizes the “crown of abstinence,” and the scepter resembles the Old Testament prototype of the Mother of God - the rod of Aaron and the hymnographic symbols that go back to it - the “true vine” and “the branch of the unfading rod.” Thus, the Mother of God is glorified as a treasure of purity and purity.

The literary source for the compositions in the hallmarks was a story from the collection of the Ukrainian theologian Ioannikiy Golyatovsky “New Heaven,” which was popular in Yaroslavl art starting from the last decades of the 17th century. The seventh miracle in the section “Miracles of the Most Holy Theotokos over those praying to her” tells of Thomas, Bishop of Cantuary, who had the custom of glorifying the Most Pure Mother every day, recalling her earthly “joys.” The Mother of God, who appeared to the bishop, said that she would like to hear from him glorification of the joy that she experiences in heaven. The bishop fulfilled the desire of the Most Pure One by composing a doxology in her honor. Iconographic sources of stamps should be sought among Western European engravings or their repetitions in Ukrainian book graphics.

Octagonal hallmarks in lush gold frames are located around the center of the icon. Their cycle begins on the top field and develops in a circle. The first seven marks depict events from the life of the Mother of God, testifying to the fulfillment of the Creator’s eternal plan and the incarnation of the Savior from the Virgin Mary. In subsequent hallmarks, the Mother of God is glorified as God's chosen one, the immaculate daughter of man, through whom the human race receives sanctification. In addition, she is glorified as the Immaculate Virgin, equal in purity to the heavenly powers, the patroness of all who mourn, the Queen of Heaven, to whom the angelic ranks are subject, the intercessor for humanity before Christ, equal to God, awarded the heavenly throne.

There are two more marks in the lower corners of the icon. On the left is the appearance of the Mother of God to Thomas of Cantuary praying in front of her icon, and on the right, in the cartouche, is the text of the prayer composed by Thomas: “O Mother of God, Virgin, rejoice, full of grace Mary, for thou hast conceived in the flesh a son [of God] ....” The text ends with the words: “This praise of the Most Holy Theotokos is printed in the book of the New Heaven Miracle [of the Most Holy Theotokos] to Thomas Archbishop of Cantuary and teach him praise... to speak the days...”. On the margins of the icon are depicted the Monk John of the Cave (on the left) and the martyr Uliania (on the right) - apparently, the saints named after the customers of the icon.

A peculiar “translation” of the prose panegyric of Ioannikiy Golyatovsky into a prayer, illustrations of which became widespread in the fine arts, arose after 1700. It is possible that this happened precisely in Yaroslavl. For the first time, this prayer and the corresponding composition appeared on the southern porch of the Yaroslavl Church of John the Baptist in Tolchkovo (1703–1704). The icon presented at the exhibition is an exact repetition of the Tolchkov fresco. There is also another known icon on this subject, somewhat different from the published one - “The Annunciation with Ten Marks” from the mid-18th century from the Yaroslavl Church of the Savior on the City (YAC). A handwritten version of the prayer of local origin, dating back to around 1798, has also been preserved.

The coloring of the icon, built on the contrast of black-green fields, dark green background, scarlet-red skies and golden frames, gives it the appearance of a triumphal composition in the Baroque spirit.

The type of the Mother of God, seated strictly frontally on a throne, with the Child located along the central axis, appeared in the Roman catacombs of the 3rd–4th centuries and was the first type of prayer image of the Mother of God. Even earlier, in the first centuries of Christianity, when the tradition of icon veneration was just taking shape, the Mother of God and the Savior were not depicted on a separate icon, but were represented as participants in the scene of the Adoration of the Magi. Byzantium inherited the image of the Mother of God sitting on the throne and gave it a monumental sound in the mosaics decorating the apses of churches (Ill. 1). “In a solemn frontal pose, dressed in purple like an empress, with her head covered like a nun, She holds a blessing baby in her arms. Royal and monastic features come together in the ideal of restraint, severity, self-control” (S. S. Averintsev).

The type of icon of the Mother of God, seated on a throne surrounded by those present (saints or angels), was adopted by Russian icon painters and masters of temple painting and received the name Pechersky. In Russian iconography, the 13th century Our Lady of Pechersk is known, where the Child blesses with both hands, from the Kiev Pechersk Monastery (Ill. 2). Also in the 13th century, a type of half-length Hodegetria appeared in Rus', which was destined in numerous editions to become the most beloved and widespread type of the Mother of God icon.

The Pechersk type of the icon of the Mother of God did not become as widespread in Rus' as the various versions of the half-length Hodegetria, where tenderness, softness and love, gentle mutual inclination or contact of the faces of the Mother and Child (“Tenderness,” for example) dominate over the “ideal of restraint and severity.” The image of the Mother of God - the Queen on the throne became not particularly widespread in Russia, but rather appeared only sporadically.

However, in monumental church art, the image of the Mother of God on the throne in the apse of the temple was quite traditional - it is enough to remember that Dionysius twice used this motif in the painting of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary at the Ferapontov Monastery (Ill. 3). This is not least due to the fact that it was then that the Grand Duke of Moscow was named Sovereign and Autocrat of All Rus', the idea of ​​the “third Rome” was formulated and the spirit of solemn representativeness, “statehood” became a requirement of the time. “No matter how highly we regard Dionysius and his followers, their works no longer contain the depth and spontaneity of feeling that distinguished Andrei Rublev and the masters of his circle,” wrote V. N. Lazarev in this regard.

The second birth of the image of the “Throne Mother of God” occurred during the reign of the Russian empresses, in the era of Russian Baroque, and appeared in the shell of secularized art. Here the Mother of God received the symbols of earthly royal power - a scepter and an orb; those to come disappeared. All the iconographic features of the icon appeared, which a hundred years later received the name “Sovereign”. They were perhaps not yet completely stable. Thus, in the Palekh icon of the mid-19th century (very beautiful, combining jewel-like finesse of writing, solid color, deeply interpreted faces and touching Palekh eclecticism) there is no power in the right hand of the Mother of God (Ill. 4).

Sometimes, in an effort to flatter not only the authorities, but also the personality of the ruler, the artist gave the face portrait features of the empress (Empress Elizabeth Petrovna on the icon of A.I. Belsky) (Ill. 5). Sometimes this icon painting type was an occasion to create a decorative image - elegant, painted in bright colors in folk taste, with an unusually strong, “suprematist” movement of lines and shapes (Ill. 6). At times, baroque forms, royal splendor of regalia and clothes, and the naivety of the isographer’s folk taste were combined into a bizarre, almost fantastic bouquet (Ill. 7). But this is not the Sovereign revealed on the day of the Sovereign’s abdication.

It dates back to the end of the 18th century and is designed in the Baroque style (Ill. 8, 9). There is no trace of smooth writing or decoration in the letter. It is written broadly and with inspiration. The Baroque tradition is reflected in the strong movement of the folds of clothing and the dynamic position of the figures. The composition of the icon is devoid of happy balance; it is rather bold. An unusually large part of the vertically elongated icon board is occupied by the image of God the Father, which adds a touch of humility to the overall royal and solemn appearance of the Mother of God.

The appearance of the icon, marked by miracles, caused a wave of popular veneration, which led to the production of numerous copies. Stylistically, they were varied - Old Russian, 17th century, Art Nouveau with Vasnetsov-like features (Ill. 10), grassroots pseudo-academicism, Palekh stylizations and more. Noteworthy is the fact that the artists, adhering to the iconography of the model, very rarely followed the plastic nature of the original (Ill. 11).

Now that the museum confinement of the icon has ended, many copies of it are being written again. And again we see that the style of the revealed icon is not reproduced, being replaced by an appeal to the ancient Russian tradition (Ill. 12). Of course, the list of icons is not an academic copy. As Fr. wrote. Sergius Bulgakov, “As for the religious content of this or that icon, history already testifies that in the church there is a unique life for the icon. In this life, some themes or versions of icons of known content come to the surface, others fall out of use, but, in any case, the possible content of an icon can never be considered exhausted or not allowing for change or increment.”

List 1918	Modern list	List of the first quarter of the 20th century.

However, the Old Russian style, almost exclusively used in the latest lists, it seems to me, does not really correspond to this image. Even the symbols of royal power - the scepter (which became part of the royal regalia during the crowning of Theodore Ioannovich in 1584) and the orb (since 1698 under Boris Godunov) - look like an anachronism in the “15th century” icons. But this is a secondary consideration. The main thing is that the revealed Sovereign is distinguished by great freedom, pace, and openness of writing, and to ignore these qualities, replacing them with school-like dryness, means depriving the new lists of icons of something very important.

It is now difficult to judge the original coloring of the icon, but the appearance in which it was found in the basement of the church - blackened, as if drowned in thunderclouds - eloquently testifies to the brink of destruction that Russia faced. The icon was restored in accordance with the command to “make the icon red”, received by the peasant woman Evdokia Ivanovna Andrianova in a dream, and is distinguished by a well-seasoned warm coloring with an emphasis on the purple of the royal clothes. In the icon case, under the flickering light of lamps and candles, she lives a mysterious church life; it seems that the face of the Mother of God changes its expression (Ill. 8).

The figure of the Mother of God is positioned strictly frontally, and the figure of the Infant God with the blessing right hand has a diagonal and helical, characteristically baroque movement. The face of the Mother of God is full of inner life - of course, this is not earthly passion, but nevertheless, both imperious severity and maternal concern for the lost and suffering are seen in it. It seems that it was precisely this combination of iconic dispassion with hidden drama (and, of course, the circumstances of the miraculous discovery) that made the icon an object of widespread veneration.

They say that the icon is a shrine of monarchists. Well, the meaning of each icon, and especially such an outstanding one as the revealed Sovereign one, is semantically extremely multi-layered, and the ideas of tsarist power, pain for Russia, hope for the revival of our Fatherland, of course, permeate the image. It is believed that the scepter and orb in the hands of the Mother of God received a new meaning - She holds them until the time when the Orthodox Tsar appears, who, having donated it to Russia, must accept these regalia from Her. The icon, by its nature, is not homemade, not private. This is essentially a monumental mural image intended for cathedral worship. It was as if he had descended from the wall of the temple in order to participate in grandiose religious processions. But “monarchical” is only one of the semantic levels, and Orthodox admirers of holy icons should not forget about the Christocentricity of our faith, about the Mother of God, who points to the Path, Truth and Life, and that She is our first hope after Christ.

The time is not far when we will celebrate the centenary of the acquisition of the Sovereign.

Probably, over the years, new lists of the revered image will appear. I would like to hope that through conciliar efforts icons will emerge that follow the spirit, and where necessary, the letter of the revealed image. This is a difficult task, which, however, would be interesting and responsible to work on.

I would like to complete these notes with a few professional considerations that would guide me when painting the image of the Sovereign Mother of God:
1. In composition
According to the Orthodox Encyclopedia, the bottom of the board (depicting the feet of the Mother of God) was sawed off by approximately 20 cm due to the poor condition of the base at the time of its discovery. Taking this into account, it is necessary to paint either a generational or full-length image, since the cut at the level of the feet is not approved (and not without reason) by all composition theorists.

2. In the picture
The faces and figures of the Mother of God and the Child of God on the original icon, with their expression and depth of content, inspire us to follow them very carefully. At the same time, the Baroque style, reflected in the strong movement of the figures and the expression of the stroke, can be somewhat softened and calmed (in the spirit of Athonite icon painting), to the extent that the Baroque style was a tribute to the time when the icon was created. But some elements of the original style must be left intact, since they “work for the image” with their drama and openness of expression.

3. In painting
In the color scheme of the icon, it would be possible to combine the coloring of the image as it was at the time of acquisition with its current, renewed and cleared version. Make a strong emphasis on the purple of the royal clothes. The background is dark golden thunderclouds, like on some Athos icons. A gap in the clouds is light and shining, expressing hope.

“We thank the Mother of God for Her intercession, for Her power over us, for the fact that She did not deprive us of this power, that She preserved our church-state tradition, preserves and strengthens it constantly. And we will ask Her that She will continue to strengthen in each of us the sense of submission to the Heavenly King, obedience to His holy will, good and perfect, so that She will help us in our lives to overcome that division, that disobedience, that collapse that we we see in ourselves and around us.”

(Priest Nikolai Bulgakov, rector of the church in the name of the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God in Zhukovsky).

Marina Zhukova. November 2010

Literature
Archpriest Sergius Bulgakov. Icon and icon veneration. M., 1996.
V. N. Lazarev. History of Byzantine painting. M., 1986.
V. N. Lazarev. Russian icon painting. M., 1983.
Christianity: dictionary. M., 1990.
Yu. G. Bobrov. Fundamentals of the iconography of ancient Russian painting. M., 1995.

The Mother of God is depicted as the Queen of Heaven on a preciously decorated throne with a high back and wide foot. She is dressed in a purple robe and dark red boots, clearly indicating the highest imperial dignity. With two hands she supports the infant Christ on her knees in a dark yellow (golden) chiton and himation. With his outstretched right hand, the baby blesses; in his left hand he holds a rolled up scroll, reminding us that before us is not just a helpless baby, but the incarnate “Logos” - the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. This is also evidenced by the adult appearance of the high-browed child, whose large head contrasts with the small figure of the baby.

Behind the throne of the Mother of God, in an architecturally designed spatial niche, two angels in white robes are shown holding golden rods in their right hands - a symbol of power known in ancient iconography. The angels act as guardians of the royal Mother of God, while simultaneously indicating the heavenly nature of the revealed scene. Their gazes are turned upward, where a hand is depicted descending from heaven, from which a wide stream of light descends onto the Virgin and Child. The angels seem to stand back in amazement when contemplating this great miracle. The iconographic motif of the “Hand of God” has symbolized the invisible triune God since early Christian times. The directed flow of light reminded that the Incarnation of the pre-eternally born Son, expressed in the image of the Mother of God with the Child, is the act of the entire Holy Trinity, carrying out the Economy of salvation.

The throne of the Mother of God is flanked by two images of saints holding golden crosses in their right hands as a sign of martyrdom and heavenly reward. They are dressed in richly ornamented chitons and cloaks with a clasp on the right shoulder, the so-called chlamys. On the chest and back, the cloaks are decorated with tablions - rectangular embroidered inserts indicating membership in the highest court ranks. These martyrs are seen as images of the holy warriors George and Theodore. The basis is only the similarity of faces, but the same similarity can be noted in the images of many other saints. In addition, the usual military attire for these saints is missing, which casts doubt on this long-established opinion. It is not at all necessary that the most famous saints were depicted. The choice of two of the many famous martyrs was most likely determined by the individual preferences of the customer of the icon, who wished to commemorate the named or specially revered saints, who, by analogy with the imperial ceremony, were assigned the role of honorary guard of the Mother of God with the Royal Child.

In general, the iconography of the Sinai icon presents an extremely complete image of the hierarchy of holiness: from the Holy Trinity, Christ, the Mother of God to the angels and saints. martyrs, who together create a vivid picture of the Kingdom of Heaven, revealed to the one praying as a reminder of the possibility of salvation and future eternal life. This multi-component image is realized using a system of complex artistic techniques. Thus, from the point of view of imitation of ancient models, the images of angels seem to be a direct quotation from ancient Roman paintings, in the image of the Mother of God with her disproportionately large head, the connection with the classical tradition is felt weaker, and the holy martyrs are interpreted in the most conventional, already medieval manner with a frozen gaze of wide open eyes. At the same time, on the contrary, from the point of view of the painting itself, the figures of angels are shown completely ethereal, translucent; in the image of the Mother of God, the painting becomes more dense, acquiring maximum concreteness and sensual richness in the robes of the holy martyrs. In this way, the dramaturgy of the image is created and the harmony of the whole is achieved, which is facilitated by a real polyphony of mutually balanced views and movements.

The internal dynamics in the image of the Mother of God and the baby, built on multidirectional turns of the head and body, are balanced by the absolutely motionless pillar-like figures of the martyrs. And the deviating figures of angels in the background form a kind of spatial arrow, pointing to the symbolic and artistic center of the entire icon - the image of the Infant God.

Virgin and Child, angels and saints

Constantinople master (?), 6th century (?).
Sinai, St. Catherine's Monastery.
Encaustic, board, 68.5 × 49.7 cm.

The Virgin Mary sits on a throne decorated with pearls and precious stones, in the center of the exedra niche. She wears a tunic, a maforia of blue purple and red shoes. In her arms she holds the Child, dressed in a tunic and a cloak of light ocher color with a golden assist. He blesses with his right hand and holds a scroll in his left. On either side of the Virgin Mary stand two saints in tunics with purple borders, mantles and tablions. Their legs, in white stockings and black shoes, cast a shadow on the ground. Each one has a cross in his right hand as a sign of martyrdom. In the saint standing on the left, with a pointed beard, they see Theodore Stratilates, in the one standing on the right - most likely St. George. Behind the throne, dressed in white, angels contemplate the right hand of God, shedding light on the Mother of God.

Over time, the boards of the icon bent greatly, and a vertical crack formed. However, the pictorial layer is generally well preserved, with the exception of some crumbling fragments (the leg and hair of the saint on the right, copied in modern times).

The icon is of the highest quality and is attributed to a 6th century Constantinople master.

To depict different levels of reality, the artist used specific stylistic techniques. The naturalness of movements and lightness of writing, permeated with light, especially noticeable in the faces of angels, conveys the incorporeality, elusiveness, luminosity and airiness of the divine messengers. The Mother of God and the Savior are also depicted with great freedom. The Virgin Mary's knees are slightly turned to the left, and her gaze is to the right, past the viewer, which emphasizes her distance from earthly space. The Baby's legs are shaped like a child's. The images of saints, which in theory should be closer to human reality, are characterized by detachment: strictly frontally, motionless, like columns, they stand to the right and left of the Virgin Mary, their faces do not express any emotions, the figures filled with the Holy Spirit are absolutely incorporeal. But it is they who turn to the viewer with the magnetic gaze of huge, wide-open eyes. They are the gates opened to heaven, conveying the prayer of believers to Christ and the Mother of God. The baby also looks at the viewer. His figure is the compositional and semantic center of the icon, representing the truth of the Incarnation.