Icons on metal. Sliced \u200b\u200bicon

The chronicles speak very sparingly. We only know that he was a monk, we know that he painted several cathedrals, often not one, but together with other famous icon painters: Theophanes the Greek, Prokhor and Daniel. We know that on days when he did not work with icons (on holidays), the Monk Andrew indulged in spiritual contemplation. We know that he lived and died in the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery.

There is very little data, and they are often contradictory, which provides ample ground for endless disputes between historians and art historians. The same is the case with the icons that are associated with Andrei Rublev. But the main thing is important: the Church honors the memory of the Monk Andrei Rublev precisely as a holy icon painter. And he honors the icons associated with his name. These icons speak better than any words.

The riddle of the icon painter Andrei Rublev

Reference: Andrei Rublev is one of the most mysterious people of his time. We don't know much about him. It is only known that the years of his life coincided with a difficult period in Russian history. But even in conditions of hunger, deprivation, the invasion of the Tatars, great works of painting were created, which continue to delight our contemporaries. Until now, the exact number of his works remains a mystery; disputes about the authorship of some of them continue. His remains were also found under unusual circumstances in the Spaso-Andronikov monastery. Where people were buried who had special services to the Church. The great icon painter was canonized by the Church as a saint.

The famous director Tarkovsky shot the film "Andrei Rublev", where he presented his vision of the life of an artist and icon painter. In the film, the events of Russian history pass before the eyes of Andrei Rublev and through the prism of his perception.

There is very little documentary evidence about Andrei Rublev. It is believed that he was born into a family of artisans. His work corresponded to the traditions of the Moscow principality. He painted the Annunciation Church in the Moscow Kremlin. Andrei Rublev died during the plague in 1482.

A number of his works are now attributed to the brushes of the workers of the Artel Andrei Rublev or other authors - his contemporaries. But it cannot be denied that the work of Andrei Rublevo had a huge impact on the entire school of painting of that time.

"Trinity" by Andrei Rublev

One of the most famous works of Andrei Rublev is the Trinity icon. Her story is amazing. In 1422, a terrible famine struck in Russia. The icon depicts three angels sitting at a table. On the table they have a bowl with the head of a calf. Angels sit against the backdrop of an unusual landscape. It is a house, a tree and a mountain. The house is the chambers of Abraham, the tree is the Mamre oak, and the mountain is Mount Moriah. The Temple Mount or Mount Moriah towered over Jerusalem, it was there that the Jerusalem Temple stood, the place for which King David acquired from the Jebusite Aravna (Orna). The Mamre oak is the very tree under which Abraham met the Lord. Abraham met three angels of the Lord, who appeared to him disguised as weary travelers. He invited them to rest in the shade of an oak tree. The oak still stands in its place.

Russian pilgrim, abbot Daniel wrote about him - That saint oak next to the road; when you go there, on the right hand; and stands, handsome, on a high mountain. And around its roots below God paved with white marble like a church floor. Paved beside all that good oak; in the middle of this platform a holy oak grew out of this stone, amazing! This oak is not very tall, very spreading and dense with branches, and there are many fruits on it. His branches bent low to the ground, so that the husband can, standing on the ground, get his branches. Its circumference at the thickest point is two sazhens, and the height of its trunk to the branches is one and a half sazhens. It's amazing and wonderful that for so many years a tree has stood on such a high mountain and is not damaged, not crumbled!

The plot “The Hospitality of Abraham” is the basis of the icon. It most fully reveals the dogmatic teaching about the Holy Trinity. The unity of the Holy Trinity and the grace of communion with God are revealed in the amazing work of Andrei Rublev, one of the few who exactly belonged to his brush. The authorship of “Trinity” is beyond doubt.

There are two lists of icons.

Copy of Godunov, ordered by the tsar in 1598-1600.
Copy of Baranov and Chirikov 1926-1928 for the 1929 international icon restoration exhibition.

Both icons are now in the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where the icon itself was located until it was transferred to the Tretyakov Gallery.

Now "Trinity" is in the hall of ancient Russian painting of the Tretyakov Gallery. A special cabinet was created for her, maintaining the required level of humidity and temperature in order to preserve a unique work of art.

On the feast of the Trinity, the icon is transferred to the church-museum, earlier there were talks about the transfer of the "Trinity" to the diocese, but it was decided to abandon this idea and the painting belongs to the Tretyakov Gallery. The icon needs special care and temperature control. People continue to admire this stunning example of ancient Russian painting that has survived to this day.

(by clicking the icon you can see it in a higher resolution)

Icons by Andrey Rublev

Vladimirskaya Mother of God

It turns out that there were not so few such icons produced, and the goal was simple: it was necessary to fill the shortage of popular and inexpensive religious subjects, which are eagerly bought by parishioners and pilgrims. But besides icons on paper, you can find many icons on metal.

Antique printed icons on tin were especially in demand, they were an example of picturesqueness, brightness, entourage. New technological possibilities of printing and embossing on metal gave a striking visual effect, favorably distinguished ancient metal icons from cursive provincial tempera icons and podkladny oil icons. The metal icons were not afraid of the effects of the atmosphere, they resisted the burning candles falling on them, they could be wiped and washed, and most importantly, they cost little money.

The 19th century gave birth to many icons on metal, but, alas, even today they can be considered rarities. Cheap icons also received a not very careful attitude towards them, proceeding from the old saying “what is easy to get, so it is easy to part with it”, and therefore it is difficult to find tin icons in good or perfect condition.

It was possible to buy icons on metal in the capital of Russia and in other cities. All the innovations, all the technical innovations known at that time, were manifested in the production technology of the tin icon. This is the production of a thin sheet of steel, and its coating with another alloy - electroplating, and precise stamping, that is, giving volume to an iron icon, a sheet of metal. The method of applying images with special paints is chromolithography. The finely embossed, very complex in its pattern embossing, which today surprises the modern viewer, looks like holography, and one can only imagine how such amazing works of art plunged into joyful shock and admiration of the people of the 19th century, who are accustomed to seeing the icon not so elegant and festive, especially since, having entered into a competitive struggle with the tin icon, the old cursive icon rather went in the opposite direction, regressed, became "not fashionable"!

But in the production of antique tin icons by the same Jacot and Bonnaker there is another very important element that is usually omitted when talking about a printed icon!

Ancient pictorial icons almost always "dance" in the form of a board, in its linear dimensions. There are no and there were no standards, and even if we say "an icon with a lectern", this does not mean at all that another old icon of an lectern size will fit into the same icon case as the first one!

Old wooden hand-painted icons can have the shape of a trapezoid, a rhombus, and the difference in the linear dimensions of two opposite sides sometimes differ by several centimeters! And of course you will never match the riza to the existing icon - everything is too individual, everything is completely different, does not fit, cannot be reduced to a common size denominator.

Old tin icons, the production of which was put on stream, is another matter. To win a buyer here it was necessary to make completely different efforts, use strict standards, observe the specified parameters ...

When examining the old tin icon Jaco Moscow, one can see how precisely its dimensions are maintained, how perfectly precision the wooden board on which the tin icon is fixed, how filigree stamping and embossing are made, how the drawing is clear and multicolored!

All this suggests that the tin icons literally forced the manufacturer to carefully approach the production of each component of the icon's detail, to each technological process. As a result of this approach, we are still surprised by the icons of Jacot and Bonnaker, proving that Russia possessed the knowledge, experience and ability to make magnificent flow products, which in this case were ancient printed icons on tin!

But the icons on the tin over time fell into disrepair. Old metal icons were removed to attics and sheds, where they underwent regular corrosion, faded from the sun, moldy and deteriorated.

Chromolithographic paper icons entered the competition with the icon on metal. Among the manufacturers of paper icons glued to wood, the E. Fesenko factory and the I. Til factory located in Odessa stand out.

At the very end of the 19th century, the Jaco and Bonnaker factory in Moscow (they are often called the Jaco Moscow icons, Bonnaker icons) actually owns a monopoly on the production of icons on tin. Jacot and Bonnaker invite the best masters Mstera and Palekh to work on samples of their "iron icons" ... Indeed, the accuracy, expressiveness, extraordinary elegance of tin icons from Jacot and Bonnaker amaze the viewer, it seems that this is the only way the saints should have looked! The most amazing thing is that in this commercial battle in the religious market, icons painted with paints began to be played, and therefore the supporters of traditional icon painting went to all sorts of tricks that allowed them to produce
icons faster, bigger, cheaper. The well-known "follicle", "foil", "common icons", "podkladnitsa", "icons of rubella", that is, cursive icons are products of the era of battles for the market, but the speed and flow method degrade the quality of handwritten icons.

Years pass in this competitive confrontation, at times it seems that a cheap paper icon and an icon on metal have defeated a pictorial icon, but this was not the case!

The society, which at first rushed to buy beautiful and ornate printed icons, at the end of the same 19th century began to express concern about the fate of the original handwritten production of holy images. In 1901, Emperor Nicholas II himself issued a special decree, which made it possible to create a "Committee of Trusteeship of the Russian Icon" under the leadership of Count S.D. Sheremetyev!

And when at the beginning of the next, XX century, the production of printed icons, in fact, got out of any control, the decree of the Holy Synod completely banned the printing of icons in monasteries and temples. The production of icons on tin was also prohibited, and the general censorship increased, which had the task of preserving the traditions of Russian icon painting and protecting the production of icons from any Western influence.

But no decrees and decisions had an effect on the same Jacot and Bonnaker: the tin icon continued to be produced until the revolution, which put an end to the traditions of producing not only pictorial icons, but also icons on paper and icons on tin ...

Only in 1949 a new generation of printed icons, obtained in the printing house of the Novodevichy Convent by the silk-screening method, will be reproduced, but this, as they say, is a completely different story.

The classification of icons on metal is approximately the following.

There are icons made in relief or bas-relief without the use of a paint layer; made with art paints on a metal base; made with artistic paints on "gold" (the basis of the icon board) and in mixed media.

Relief and bas-relief icons on metal have been known since the first centuries of Christianity. Carved reliefs, casting, chased icons have survived in their tradition to this day.

Among the iconic techniques of performing with artistic paints on metal, the enamel technique can be recognized as the best. The fusion of quartz sand and coloring pigment in a special way was known in antiquity, so it is quite possible to admit the use of this technique from the first centuries of Christianity. At first, the most widespread technique was cloisonné enamel, where thin gold partitions were made on a prepared icon plate to fill in color. At the same time, these plates created a peculiar pattern. After firing the enamel, a very strong and durable paint coating was obtained, the only drawback is fragility.

In ancient Russian art, cloisonné enamel was rarely used and mainly in decorative solutions. Since the 17th century, enamel without partitions has become widespread in Russia, where the application of paints was similar to icon painting. One of the centers of this enamel was Rostov the Great, hence the name - Rostov enamel.

The artistic potential of this technique is enormous, and why today it is not in demand is not clear. Modern enamels allow you to get very beautiful saturated colors. High lightfastness, weather resistance suggest the use of these paints for the facade icons of the temple.

Since the 17th century, icons made with oil paints on metal appear in Russia, but they have become widespread since the middle of the 19th century. Unfortunately, this writing technique has a number of drawbacks: the adhesion of the paint layer to the metal weakens over time, metal corrosion - rust of tin or copper oxide affects the color of the icon, darkening of the oil, etc. This technique is recommended by many "experts" as a facade icon - that's where the fruit of delusion is. Tin as a basis for facade painting is generally not suitable, it has the lowest adhesion to the paint layer. The situation is slightly better for copper, and even better for aluminum. This is due to the presence of an oxide film in copper and aluminum, which creates additional "looseness" of the surface. Therefore, when preparing a sheet of copper or aluminum for painting, it is not necessary to polish them to a shine - it is enough to degrease the surface. Experience shows that oil paints themselves are not very suitable for painting on metal. For a long time, special paints for metal based on acrylic resins (not water-based!) Have been developed.

Another technique for working on metal is gold overlay on copper. This complex and rare technique is also called "fire gilding". The drawing is done with gold dissolved in mercury. Upon further heating, mercury "evaporates", and gold is firmly combined with the metal. Today, few people use such technology, more often they use the method of applying glue or varnish "on touch".

Metal, and in particular gold, was used not only as a background or base. The effect of the reflection of light passing through the paint layer has been noticed by icon painters for a long time and has sometimes been very successfully applied. Unfortunately, there are not many icons painted specifically with this effect.

The use of mixed media in metal work allows you to get very good and beautiful results.

Vladimir Khvorov
Based on materials from Internet resources

Icons provided by the collector Vladimir BOYKO

Help from Wikipedia

Relief - a type of fine art, one of the main types of sculpture, in which everything depicted is created using volumes protruding from the background plane. It is performed with the use of contractions in perspective, usually viewed from the front. The relief is thus the opposite of a circular sculpture. Figured or ornamental image is made on a plane of stone, clay, metal, wood using molding, carving and chasing.

Depending on the purpose, architectural reliefs differ (on pediments, friezes, slabs).

Types of relief:

Bas-relief (fr. bas-relief - low relief) - a kind of sculpture in which the convex image protrudes above the background plane, as a rule, by no more than half of the volume.
High relief (fr. haut-relief - high relief) - a type of sculpture in which a convex image protrudes above the background plane by more than half of the volume.
Counter relief(from Latin contra - against and "relief") - a kind of in-depth relief, which is a "negative" of the bas-relief. It is used in seals and in forms (matrices) to create bas-relief images and intaglios.
Koilanaglyph(or en creux (ankryo)) - a type of in-depth relief, i.e. a contour cut out on a plane. It was mainly used in the architecture of Ancient Egypt, as well as in Ancient Eastern and Antique glyptics.

1. Options for selling old icons

The first thing you need to do is take a picture of the icon correctly and send us photos in any convenient way.

Our experts will at least tell you what the icon is called, when it was created (century of writing) and in which country it was painted, the estimated cost of the icon. They will also offer sale options:

Redemption of icons in our salon

Redemption of the old icon on the Vysha territory

Realization of the icon at the opening day or galleries in Europe

Restoration of the system of icons with further redemption

We do not guarantee that your icon will be of interest to us and our partners, and we will decide to buy it.

3. How to protect yourself from scammers when selling an icon and get the correct price for an icon

In order not to fall for the tricks of unscrupulous antique salons:

Estimating the cost of the icon to a minimum

Of course, every antique salon dreams of buying an icon for a thousand rubles, and selling it for several tens of thousands of rubles. Therefore, you need to contact several experts and talk about it openly.

Many specialists are alarmed by the information about contacting other appraisers, but our “House of Antiquary” employs real professionals who are not afraid of comparisons and competition. Since the market price of the icon is always reported.

In fact, there are few salons that really work with icons on the fingers of one hand. All professionals are familiar, they have a common circle of contacts and interests, meeting places - therefore it is important to contact a real antique dealer for icons whose name is really appreciated in the market. Remember, no dealer will look for a buyer or collector for free. It takes a lot of time to sell an icon to a collector - it is not an essential item, so this is important to consider when you want to get an unreasonably high price for an icon (antique item).

Estimating the price of the icon to the maximum

After being undervalued, this is the second most common style of antique homes. If an antique dealer sees that you are not ready to sell an old icon and have come only to find out the cost of the icon, you are specially given an overvalued item in advance. Thanks to this, the antiquarian leaves for himself the maximum chance that you will return to him again. And in other salons, the price of the icon will be determined for much less money - even if in reality you are being made a generous offer that corresponds to market realities. You will bypass four or five antique dealers and be sure to return to the first one - which made the best price offer for the icon. When you return, you will be offered an amount much less, arguing that the offer was at that moment in time.

Useless chores

There is a category of hesitant sellers who irritate and irritate buyers by appointing and postponing a deal to sell the icon indefinitely several times. At each meeting, they try to inflate the agreed value of the icon or never appear at the meeting, inventing incredible stories. It is very difficult to identify this type of antique dealer. If you are faced with such a seller, I do not hesitate to refuse to conduct a transaction with such a person.

Could an old icon be fake?

Yes maybe. But a lot depends on when exactly it was forged. Counterfeiting of icons has become relatively widespread since the 19th century, at a time when the Old Believers collected icons and began to create richest collections. In the modern world, the methods and technologies for forging icons have developed very much, but the main tricks have remained the same: to paint an icon on an old or aged board, the selection of an artist with the desired writing style. Then the only thing left is to find a collector and pass the icon off as the original and sell the icon for a serious price.

Such fakes sometimes pop up on the antiquarian market and there is nowhere to go from them. Conclusion: if the icon looks like an old one, this is not an indicator of the high cost of the icon.

4. How much does the icon cost? What is the price of the icon?

To determine how much you can sell an icon for, you need to consider factors such as:

The beauty of the thing

The old icon is primarily a work for prayer and admiration. Firstly, an interesting plot should be depicted with pronounced faces, bright colors playing in the light, elements of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) should be present in the icon, written by a famous master - all factors should not go beyond harmony.

Art is loved with the eyes. If the icon is ancient, made of precious metals, painted by a famous artist, but the image looks like a blot, then the icon will not impress the buyer and it will be much more difficult to sell it. Therefore, the cost of such an icon may not be great.

Plot

The plot matters. An interesting, bright and beautiful plot is already 50% of the success of selling an old icon for a high price. For example, "The Beheading of John the Baptist" is undoubtedly the greatest Christian icon, the icon of the "Dormition of the Mother of God" is dedicated to the holiday, a collector or an amateur would prefer to see the Theophany or the Mother of God on the icon.

The plot of the icon, which is idle, is more pleasing to the eye of the buyer than dark tones.

Time of creation

In the most general view, older icons are more expensive.

But still - the price of icons visually similar to the 16 (XVI) and 18 (XVIII) centuries differs hundreds of times in favor of the older one, but Palekh, for example, of the 20 (XX) century, can be hundreds of times more expensive than a village icon painted in oil.

Icon painting school, place of creation

Icons with the characteristic features of famous schools are always valued dearly compared to icons whose origin is difficult to determine. Since the icons of icon painting schools are a whole great story.

Safety

Even a good old icon of the 15th (15th) century, which lacks several elements, will yield in value to an ancient item of the 17th (17th) century, which is ideally located. The main thing to keep in the icon is the paint layer. The presence of cracks (craquelure), small nail holes, debris is allowed - these defects can even serve as an ornament to the icon, thereby showing its antiquity. It is extremely bad if there is wear of gold, the absence of component parts of the icon, the loss of the upper layers. The smaller the icon, the worse the defects are.

Conclusion: the icon must be monitored, it must be carefully looked after. The better preserved the icon, the higher the price of the icon.

Materials

Oil will always be cheaper than tempera, sometimes tenfold. And the icon on gold leaf is more expensive than silver, but the cypress board of the icon is better than linden, and linden is better than spruce. It is important to look at what kind of salary on the icon, since visually brass and silver salaries look the same, but their cost differs by a tenfold percentage.

There are old icons with and without relics, the first can cost a fortune. Conclusion: the more expensive the icon is, the higher the cost of the icon.

Darkish sulfites - the patina of time - will make the silver setting of the setting more expensive, but if the setting is gilded, then the washed gilding is more expensive than the patinated silver. Selective gilding of the frame elements is preferable to solid ones. A luxurious gilded icon case with magnificent carvings, including a small nondescript icon, does not even make up a hundredth of its value. Etc...

The expert rated my icon as very rare. Will it memorize that it is expensive?
I am selling a family heirloom - a miraculous icon. Why do all antique shops offer so little money?
Why do they offer only ten thousand rubles (10,000) for my icon, while on the Internet exactly the same icons cost no less than twenty thousand rubles (20,000)?
Will I be able to sell the icon myself? Can I get more money then?
How long does it take for the icon to rise in price?

In some cases, yes. But not necessarily.

In this case, you can say both "yes" and "no". First, you need to understand what the antiquarian means by the word "rare": the age of the icon, the plot of the icon, its style, the style of writing the icon and much more. Therefore, be sure to ask questions, and it is better to consult a few more antique shops. As we said above, this can be a kind of deception.

Unfortunately, it is rather difficult to assess the miraculousness of an icon - this is more a psychological factor than a material one. The expert first of all looks at the age of the icon, its preservation, assesses the infographics and style. In this regard, the cost consists more of material factors than spiritual and psychological ones.

It is always necessary to take into account that "antiques" is a business and antiques dealers must also earn money, thereby taking into account their interests when buying an icon or a collection of icons. As a rule, the amount of earnings is estimated at 5-10% of the market value of the icon. For you as a seller, the profitability of a transaction should not only consist of the offered price, it is important to take into account the speed and safety of the transaction. And of course, instant transactions. If you do the search yourself, it can take years.

Maybe. But not necessarily. And the sale will definitely take longer. To sell an icon, you need to know the market and collectors by sight. It is necessary to understand that collectors do not personally walk around flea markets themselves, and they do not visit antique salons every week. Antique dealers experts personally travel to such collectors with their goods and suggestions. No self-respecting collector will buy an icon from an unknown seller. By selling an icon in an antique salon, you are guaranteed to receive money right now, and the antiquarian takes on the risks of the subsequent sale of the goods.

Most probably not. For an icon to grow in value, at least one hundred (100) years must pass. The age of the icon is calculated in centuries and not in years and not as months. In addition, it is important to take into account the general economic situation in the country, when there is a crisis in the country - everyone saves money, and icons are not essential goods, but primarily an object of Orthodox culture. It is important to remember that icons are not luxury goods, while investing in an icon is often quite profitable. When investing in an icon, it is always necessary to remember that an icon requires careful care and storage in a certain microclimate.

Good day to all, here, I remembered a story that happened to me in my distant childhood.
I live in a quiet town, Yakhroma. There are private houses near the church, our old residents live in them, they keep cattle, in general they live like ordinary villagers. At that time, I lived with my parents in 5 floors near the church. My family then went to the village there to buy goat milk from local grandmothers, and we bought milk from a grandmother named Pasha. This grandmother's son went to the army, and just the other day he was supposed to return. It was July, her son returned, his name was Vlad. Vlad was a pretty strong young man, he served in military intelligence, he returned with the first Chechen one, it was just beginning then. He was quite rude, self-confident, in short, the army made him a real soldier. Baba Pasha was a very religious woman, for all church holidays she and my grandmother are already at the service in the church at dawn. Well, everywhere in her house, in every corner there was an icon and an icon lamp. Pasha's husband died a long time ago, she managed the household and raised her son alone. So, as they say, with God's help she began to build an extension to the house, they say her son needs a bigger room, otherwise there will be nowhere to marry and live with his wife! And somehow Vlad returned from work drunk, angry, it seems like he was deprived of his bonus for something there, so he got drunk out of anger and gave up on work. His mother never saw him drunk, since he did not drink at all, not that he drank, but generally did not tolerate alcohol. And here's to you, well, she pounced on him, saying, what are you doing, ruining your health, well, and something like that. Vlad was already on his nerves, and then his mother, well, he yelled stupidly, cursed everyone, and out of anger took what was at hand and threw it into a corner, and under his hand lay an ax that his mother had brought so that his son could sharpen it, as with work will return. The ax broke the glass on the icon and from the blow of the ax the icon cracked from above. Vlad went to sleep, and his mother took the icon and was crying, the icon was old, it was bought even before the revolution, Vlad, hearing his mother's cry, flew into the room, saw that his mother had an icon broken in her hands, and grinned, saying that you were crying over this piece of wood , took the icon and threw it out the window, on the street, and went to sleep on. Mother, after all this confusion, went to pick up the icon, but the icon is not there. Well, all upset, I went to sleep too. In the morning she tells my grandmother that she had a dream where the Mother of God tells her that her son should go to church and repent. Well, my grandmother offered to tell everything to her son and do as he was told in a dream. So Pasha did, to which Vlad laughed in her face and added that he would not go to church, where everything was bought, and where the priests were building their dachas with other people's money. Three days later, the son was found dead in the outbuilding, which he helped to build, he was killed or killed with an ax on the head. And in the late afternoon, having come to the church, Pasha saw her icon, which stood in the corner of the temple, and caked blood emerged from the crack, the priest said that the children had brought this icon from the street.

Like everything in life, holy places are revealed to us by the will of God. And it is unlikely that we would have ended up in the wonderful city of Arzamas in the Nizhny Novgorod region if we had found free places to sleep in Diveyevo, where we had originally intended.

Since we usually travel by car, the distance between Arzamas and Diveyevo, about 60 km, did not frighten (by the way, you can also get to Arzamas from Moscow by train). We decided that we would live in Arzamas, we would see the city and already from it we would leave for Diveevo and nearby places.

We stayed at a hotel in the very center of a small town (the population of Arzamas is now a little over 100,000 people). The city Cathedral Square and the Arzamas Nicholas Monastery, the Resurrection Cathedral and other temples are located literally in a few minutes walk.

View from Cathedral Square

The abundance of churches that we saw in Arzamas amazed. Some of them are not restored, but the domes and crosses remind of the solid foundation of spiritual life was laid. By the beginning of the 20th century, 25 parish churches and 4 monasteries were built here.

Now in the deanery district of the city there are 12 active churches and 2 monasteries: the Spaso-Preobrazhensky male and Nikolaevsky female, as well as the Arzamas courtyard of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky monastery. Thank God that monasteries and churches continue to be restored.

However, Orthodoxy was not always in this place. Arzamas was founded in the middle of the 16th century on the site of an ancient Mordovian settlement as a fortress, which Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered to lay when he was on his third campaign against Kazan. The name of the city is associated with the names of two brothers Arzai and Masai, who, according to one of the legends, were the first to adopt the Orthodox faith. Officially, the date of foundation of Arzamas is 1578. The fortress was "ordered to be in the service of the sovereign," and it played an important role in the defense of the southeastern borders of the Russian state.

In the 17th century, Arzamas became famous for its Arzamas geese and onions, for which the Arzamas people were called "gosyatniks" and "onions". Arzamas was also known for the manufacture of leather and leather goods, and the famous Arzamas yuft was exported even to Europe.

Since 1719, Arzamas has been the main city of the province, which was part of the Nizhny Novgorod province, with a population of almost 7000 people, which was slightly less than in Nizhny Novgorod. Since 1779 Arzamas became a district town.

In the 18th century, numerous trade tracts passed through it, which led to an expansion of trade and an increase in the defense industry in the city. The heyday of Arzamas fell on almost a century from the middle of the 18th century.

The construction of church architecture in Arzamas lasted about three hundred years, and during this time the temples were rebuilt more than once, wooden ones were replaced by stone ones.

In 1842, the previously mentioned majestic Resurrection Cathedral was built in honor of the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. It took 28 years to build, the project was carried out by M.P. Korinthsky (1788-1851), a native of Arzamas, a student of the famous Russian architect A.N. Voronikhin. A specially revered shrine of the Resurrection Cathedral is the Life-giving Cross of the Lord.

Resurrection Cathedral

Fresco "Resurrection of Christ"

"In its general appearance and excellent proportions, the Arzamas Resurrection Cathedral has no equal among the classical churches of Moscow and can be compared only with the Stasov Cathedrals in St. Petersburg," wrote the famous architect-restorer NN Pomerantsev in 1926.

Temple in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-giving source"

Next to the Resurrection Cathedral there is a winter church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Life-giving source”, built at the end of the 18th century, and the Nicholas Convent, founded in 1580, which are attributed to it. By the way, Archpriest Avraamy Nekrasov, a disciple of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, served in it for over 30 years.

Nicholas Arzamas Convent

The life of the monastery was inextricably linked with historical events. She did not escape the harsh fate that befell the state at the beginning of the 20th century - with the advent of the theomachous power, the monastery was destroyed and closed. It began to revive only in 1994.

It contains several miraculous icons: two icons of the Mother of God and two icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, to which numerous pilgrims turn with prayer.

In 1997, two residents of Arzamas brought a dark board to the monastery. It was not possible to understand whether it was an icon and what was depicted on the board. Once the abbess ordered to put this board in a frame, hang it in the church and pray in front of her to the Most Holy Theotokos. Soon after this, a bright spot appeared on the board, and the sisters of the monastery saw the neck of the Mother of God with the handle of the Savior. The icon continued to cleanse itself, and it became possible to read its title: "Deliverance from the troubles of those who suffer." The image continues to be updated to this day.

"Deliver us from troubles, pure Mother of God, eternal giving birth to deliverance, and peace, every mind prevailing" (from the canon to the Most Holy Theotokos)

Another miraculous icon of the Mother of God is "It is worthy to eat" (Chopped). It was written in the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos in the middle of the 19th century for the sisters of the Alekseevskaya Arzamas monastery. With the advent of the atheistic power, the monastery was closed, churches were desecrated. In particular, they removed the rich precious robe from the icon of the Mother of God, and cut the icon itself with an ax, mutilating the face of the Mother of God.

Icon of the Mother of God "It is worthy to eat" (Chopped)

Already in our time in the Nicholas Monastery, after the sisters took the icon for the procession, it was renewed and pacified. Later, after the renewal of the colors of the image, new ones began to appear above the cut-out atheists eyes of the Mother of God.

Believers also flock to the especially revered images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The icon of St. Nicholas was brought to the monastery in 1997. At first it was a black plaque, presumably an icon of St. Demetrius of Rostov. Later, the icon began to be renewed, and the sisters were able to read that it was an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Due to a lack of funds, the sisters could not support the unquenchable lamp in front of the image, and the image darkened again. The sisters repented and served a prayer service before the icon. At Easter 2009, the vestments on the image appeared in a bright color, and remained bright.

The miraculous image of St. Nicholas

The second miraculous image of St. Nicholas - the carved icon of "St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky" - was donated to the monastery around 1580 by the abbot of the Transfiguration Monastery Sergius. After the closure of the Nicholas Monastery in the time of God, this shrine, like many others, was transferred to the Museum of Atheism, opened by the new authorities in the Resurrection Cathedral. In December 2015, the miraculous image was returned to the reviving monastery.

Nikola Mozhaisky

We were also greatly impressed by the courtyard of the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery: nowhere before have we seen such a beauty a porcelain iconostasis in several tiers.

The other worshiped churches of Arzamas with their ancient icons, magnificent gold embroidery and amazing salaries have sunk into the soul.

Being in the city center, you can also see the Cathedral of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, erected at the beginning of the 19th century in the village of Vyezdnoye, which is near Arzamas. The cathedral consists of a winter and summer churches. Inside it was decorated by painters from Moscow and students of the Stupino school. In the altar there is an image of the "Crucifixion", according to art historians, belonging to the brush of the famous Spanish artist of the 17th century B. E. Murillo. The cathedral was built on donations from the residents of Vyyezdny.

Cathedral of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God

Being in the hinterland of the Nizhny Novgorod region and seeing the masterpieces of architecture, icon painting, gold embroidery, metal and stone work, you understand that the Orthodox people really brought all the best to the temple, to God. I would like to return to the wonderful Arzamas again, pray in front of the preserved shrines and slowly walk around the quiet city, admiring how the sun is reflected in the crosses and domes of churches, some of which have yet to shine again in all their glory.

Church of the Icon of the Mother of God "Sign"

Elena Kisel

* The text uses materials from the official website of the Deanery of Arzamas http://arzblag.ortox.ru/; city \u200b\u200bsites: http://arzgo.ru and http://arzamas-gorod.ru; site of the Nikolaev Arzamas convent http://nicola-arzamas.ru/, as well as materials provided by the monastery in printed form.