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| Keywords: Russian - Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Virgin of the Burning Bush - Walters 372664.jpg This rare double-sided icon was most likely commissioned by Tsar Boris Godunov r 1598-1605 as a gift for a church in Jerusalem where it was kept until the mid-20th century It would have been displayed for veneration on the feast days of the Virgin's Presentation in the Temple November 21 and of the Prophet Moses September 4 One side of the panel shows the Presentation Protoevangelium of James 7 2-8 1 between images of the Virgin's parents Joachim and Anna right and John the Baptist's parents Zechariah and Elisabeth left Five Old Testament figures in the upper border Jeremiah Daniel Isaiah Moses and Aaron hold scrolls with prophecies referring to the Virgin The four corner scenes on the other side illustrate the prophetic visions of Moses Ex 3 2 Isaiah Is 11 10 Ezekiel Ez 44 2 and Jacob Genesis 28 12 In the center is the Virgin of the Burning Bush a complex composition inspired by the Old Testament story in which God revealed himself to Moses through a bush that burned without being consumed by the fire Exodus 3 2 The small female heads on the Virgin's shroud represent the celestial bodies while the larger crowned bust upon her chest depicts the Sun as a symbol of Christ Malachi 4 2 Mary is surrounded by four creatures that stand for the four evangelists and by eight angels each of whom as the accompanying inscriptions explain holds sway over certain natural elements and simultaneously represents a certain aspect of the Spirit of the Lord Isaiah 11 2-3 Our small panel is one of the earliest known examples of an uniquely Russian image of the Mother of God The first ever icon of the Virgin of the Burning Bush was probably painted shortly after 1547 for one of the renovated churches in the Moscow Kremlin; it no longer survives ca 1598 Early Modern tempera gold wood cm 24 5 19 0 8 accession number 37 2664 20093 A church in Jerusalem by gift Sale Jerusalem ca 1950 William and Lucia Haddad Beirut Lebanon and Arlington 1963 by purchase Walters Art Museum 1994 by purchase Museum purchase with funds provided by the W Alton Jones Foundation Acquisition Fund 1994 Translation Along the edges of the large star-shaped halo He that was begotten of the Father before the morning star without a mother is today on earth become incarnate of thee without a father A pure virgin shall conceive in her womb The Creator of all creation became one with us and voluntarily suffered clothing Himself in our nature The inseparable Father in heaven redeemed us through the crucifixion of His Son from the devil s terrible yoke and the darkness of slavery redeeming our race from the ancient curse just as the prophets had foretold Moses foretold a burning bush Isaiah a woman giving birth to God 7 14 Ezekiel an impassable gate 44 2 Hosea a root cast forth 14 5 David a beautiful palace and animate city Solomon the house of wisdom Proverbs 9 1 Daniel a stone from an inviolate mountain 2 34 Gideon a fleece untouched by dew Judges 6 40 Aaron a flowering rod Numbers 17 8 Habakkuk a mountain overshadowed by the Lord 3 3 Jacob a spiritual ladder Genesis 28 12 Zechariah a city of the great King Christ our God 9 9 cf Psalm 48 2 In the central star clockwise from the top center 1 Cherubim 2 Bringing the wind out of his treasuries Psalm 135 7 3 A guardian angel who brings tears and repentance together with charity and love 4 An angel of the Lord who brings prayer and a censer from man 5 He set up a wondrous sign of the rain bow upon the sky a covenant between the Lord and men Genesis 9 13 In the clouds clockwise from the top left 1 Servant spirits warmth frost winter snow and ice an angel of the Lord holds sway over them 2 The angel of the Lord who gives dew i e gives one strength to cleanse oneself from the temptation of sin 3 The spirit of wisdom an angel who burns with fire i e shows us the things to come 4 The spirit of the fear of the Lord an angel of thunder 5 The spirit of the preparation of a good deed i e an angel of brilliance and power 6 The spirit of the renewal of the pure 7 The spirit of piety i e of renunciation who gives a cup of sorrow 8 The spirit of understanding i e one who works miracles in the world In general cf Isaiah 11 2 In the corners clockwise from the top left 1 On Sinai Moses saw a bush burnt and unconsumed by fire and from the bush 2 Hosea sc Jesse cast forth a stem from which Christ blossomed out of the Virgin cf Isaiah 11 1 3 Jacob saw a ladder 4 illegible Jeremiah I saw you as a way cf Jeremiah 42 3 Daniel A noetic mountain I saw cf Daniel 2 34 Isaiah Behold a virgin shall conceive in her womb cf Isaiah 7 14 Moses I called you a bush cf Exodus 3 2 Aaron Prefiguring you as a rod cf Exodus 7 10 Numbers 17 8 place of origin Moscow Russia Walters Art Museum license 2D Russian art in the Walters Art Museum Religious art in Russia Art of the Russian Orthodox Church Russian icons in the Walters Art Museum Media contributed by the Walters Art Museum needs category review Psalm 135 Psalm 48 | ||||
