An unusual scene on the proskynetarion icon in Ružica Church

Abstract

The paper reviews the scene on the Jerusalem proskynetarion Icon - an iconographically complex pilgrimage icon dating from 1819 and kept in the Rose Church at the Belgrade Fortress. The central part of this scene depicts St Luke Presenting the Icon of the Theotokos to the Virgin Mary. By comparison with more recent graphics, the author concludes that this tradition was related to the miraculous icon from the Kykkos Monastery on Cyprus, which is believed to have been painted by Apostle Luke himself and blessed by the words of the Holy Mother. This legend played its role in justifying the cult of icons in general, but also in strengthening the prestige of the Kykkos Icon itself. Judging by the dates of the Jerusalem proskynetarion from the Ružica (= the Rose) Church and ceratin Bulgarian icons of the same type, it may be concluded that the latter ones had an earlier variant, a model of which could have been one of the icons from the Kykkos Monastery; it is likely that the Balkan and Palestinian workshops of the first half of the 19th century were aware of this earlier variant.

Keywords

• Jerusalem
• Belgrade Fortress
• Kykkos Monastery
• miraculous icon
• Mother of Jesus
• Apostle Luke
• graphic
• iconographers’ workshop
• Balkans
• Palestine