By Tatyana Nikitichna Nechaeva,
Head of the Research and Collection Department, Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art
and
Mikhail Alekseevich Chernov,
Director of the Icon Section, Antikvariat Magazine
Head of the Research and Collection Department, Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art
and
Mikhail Alekseevich Chernov,
Director of the Icon Section, Antikvariat Magazine
While studying the artistic culture of the Guslitsa region, we noted icons depicting the angel's healing of John the Gardener, painted primarily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Works with similar themes are unknown in iconography from earlier periods, and they are also rarely found in other centers outside the Guslitsa region.
In the icons, John the Gardener is depicted lying on a bed inside his home. An angel bends over him, extending his right hand toward him in a two-fingered blessing gesture and touching his bare shin with his left. In the center of the composition, above John's bed, is a half-length image of the Savior, mounted on the wall of the home. Some icons feature a lengthy inscription in the upper margin explaining the subject: "The Holy Angel of the Lord healed the leg of John the Gardener". The entire icon surface is filled with images of chambers, shown both inside and out. The architecture of buildings may vary across different works; artists depict houses with gable roofs or columns, but their tripartite division is preserved in all versions.
The image of John being healed by an angel, along with other venerated images of saints, is part of the multi-part compositions favored by Old Believers. Moreover, in the works of the Guslitsa masters, the image of John the Gardener is placed in the center, as the most significant, and gives the entire icon its name.
It seems likely that the spread of such images is connected to the special veneration of John the Gardener in the region. This may be evidenced not only by the popularity of icons depicting the angel's healing scene, but also by the creation of hagiographical images of him. In the only icon known to us with his life, John is depicted full-length, as a middle-aged man with dark hair and a chest-length beard, wearing a long, belted layman's robe, holding an unrolled scroll in one hand and a spade—a gardener's tool—in the other. Four large border scenes flank the central figure of John, telling his story: helping the poor, temptation, illness and the doctor's attempt at healing, healing by an angel, and, in the final scene, his return to his garden and the amazement of the doctor, powerless to save him. The scenes are accompanied by detailed inscriptions in the margins. Among the scenes is an image of John's healing by an angel, in the iconographic type familiar to us. Wishing to further illustrate the essence of the story of John the Gardener (the meaning of which boils down to affirming the truth, important for all Christians, that help comes not from money, but from good deeds), the artist included an image of an open chest of gold in two of the border scenes.
The special veneration of John in this region is also indicated by the fact that in all the icons presented, he is depicted with a halo and is called a saint, and in some, a righteous one, although no saint by this name or with such a biography appears in the known Greek and Russian calendars. The story of John the Gardener is included in the Prologue, under November 8, as an instructive tale about a certain man who, at the instigation of the devil, began to accumulate wealth for himself instead of distributing alms to the poor. This tale was included in the handwritten Prologues, and later in the first Russian printed Prologue of 1641, which was recognized and used by the Old Believers, as well as in all its subsequent editions, including those printed in the second half of the 19th century by the Moscow Edinoverie Printing House.
FROM THE PROLOGUE
(November 8th)
(November 8th)
A certain gardener named John was so merciful to the poor that he distributed all the profits from his land to the needy, keeping only the bare necessities for himself.
Temptation came upon this man, at the hands of the devil. The gardener began to worry that in his old age he himself might fall into poverty, especially if he lost his health, and he reduced his charity. By setting aside more than he needed, he accumulated quite a few pieces of silver.
The gardener's leg began to ache, and no matter how much money he spent on doctors, he found no relief. Finally, the doctors deemed it necessary to amputate the leg. On the eve of this operation, the gardener remembered his actions, repented before God, and cried out to Him with tears:
"Remember, O Lord, my former deeds, how I helped the poor!" And as he spoke, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said:
"Where are your pieces of silver that you have hoarded?"
He then repented and said:
"I have sinned, Lord, forgive me; I will not do it again!"
Then the Angel touched his ailing leg, and the illness immediately ceased. The next morning, he went to work in his garden again. Meanwhile, the doctor came to amputate his leg, and when he learned that he was cultivating his land completely healthy, he was amazed and glorified God, saying: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7).
This well-known story, which is read on the feast day of the Synaxis of Archangel Michael and other Bodiless Powers, formed the basis for this iconography of the healing of John the Gardener. As already noted, all the works we have identified so far on this subject date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Their compositions are similar in general and in certain details, and it seems likely that they all originate from a single model. It is obvious that after its creation, no significant changes in the iconography of this image occurred, due to the narrowness of its distribution area, as well as the extremely short period of its existence. The iconic image is distinguished by its narrative; in its creation, it seems to us, the artist used techniques characteristic of book and popular prints. The action is placed inside chambers, in which the image of the Savior occupies a central place; the architecture is reminiscent of both Old Russian and Empire-style buildings, the buildings are decorated with draperies. It is precisely such massive forms with elaborate interior spaces that are used by scribes.
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| Miniature "All Saints' Sunday" from the book "The Lenten Triodion and Pentecostarion." First third of the 19th century. Guslitsa. Collection of the M.I. Glinka Museum of Musical Culture. |
In Guslitsa, a renowned center of book culture, where icon painters often designed books and created popular wall paintings, such interaction and mutual influence seems entirely probable. Books and printed sheets containing illustrations of didactic and edifying texts, including illustrations to individual Tales from the Prologue, were widely circulated here.
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| Wall panel "Prologue to April 18. Sermon by John Chrysostom." Second half of the 19th century. Guslitsa. State Historical Museum Collection. |
The style of the iconic depiction of the healing of John the Gardener is so close to book illustrations that one might wonder whether there were painted images with a similar theme, which were repeated in the icon. We cannot answer this question within the scope of our preliminary report. Currently, we are not aware of such images; perhaps, with further study, this problem will be resolved.
The iconography of the new Saint John the Gardener created here, due to the relevance of the idea of the "vanity of earthly acquisitions" for Old Believers, became famous and widespread in Guslitsa, one of the spiritual centers of the Old Believers in the second half of the 19th century. Furthermore, the widespread popularity of this image in this region may have been influenced by the fact that Guslyaks were generally quite wealthy individuals; many of them became wealthy merchants, factory owners, and manufacturers, and the ideas of charity and patronage were particularly relevant to them. The well-known Old Believer entrepreneur V.P. Ryabushinsky noted that by the end of the 19th century, the priorities of merchant philanthropy had shifted. Among wealthy Old Believers, competition was not about who could build and decorate the church more richly, but about "who could do more for the people." The elders in his family taught the younger generation, "Wealth obliges," meaning assistance from the rich to the poor and needy. He recalls the three gifts of God, mentioned in a famous Old Believer verse about John the Baptist: "The Lord sent down three gifts. The first gift—the cross and prayer. The second gift—love and almsgiving. The third gift—nightly prayer. The fourth commandment—a book to read." Wealthy Old Believers actively utilized this "second gift—love and almsgiving," establishing numerous free soup kitchens, hospitals, and almshouses for their common believers.
In conclusion, it should be noted that, in our opinion, it was from Guslitsa that the iconography of John the Gardener was transmitted to other Old Believer centers, for example, Mstera, which testifies to the importance of the idea of mercy and charity for all Old Believers.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The authors previously published on this topic in the magazine "Antikvariat," No. 7-8 (98), July-August, 2012, pp. 42-47, and in the almanac "Guslitsy," No. 11, 2014.
The iconography of the new Saint John the Gardener created here, due to the relevance of the idea of the "vanity of earthly acquisitions" for Old Believers, became famous and widespread in Guslitsa, one of the spiritual centers of the Old Believers in the second half of the 19th century. Furthermore, the widespread popularity of this image in this region may have been influenced by the fact that Guslyaks were generally quite wealthy individuals; many of them became wealthy merchants, factory owners, and manufacturers, and the ideas of charity and patronage were particularly relevant to them. The well-known Old Believer entrepreneur V.P. Ryabushinsky noted that by the end of the 19th century, the priorities of merchant philanthropy had shifted. Among wealthy Old Believers, competition was not about who could build and decorate the church more richly, but about "who could do more for the people." The elders in his family taught the younger generation, "Wealth obliges," meaning assistance from the rich to the poor and needy. He recalls the three gifts of God, mentioned in a famous Old Believer verse about John the Baptist: "The Lord sent down three gifts. The first gift—the cross and prayer. The second gift—love and almsgiving. The third gift—nightly prayer. The fourth commandment—a book to read." Wealthy Old Believers actively utilized this "second gift—love and almsgiving," establishing numerous free soup kitchens, hospitals, and almshouses for their common believers.
In conclusion, it should be noted that, in our opinion, it was from Guslitsa that the iconography of John the Gardener was transmitted to other Old Believer centers, for example, Mstera, which testifies to the importance of the idea of mercy and charity for all Old Believers.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The authors previously published on this topic in the magazine "Antikvariat," No. 7-8 (98), July-August, 2012, pp. 42-47, and in the almanac "Guslitsy," No. 11, 2014.
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| 2nd page of the Almanac cover |
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| 3rd page of the Almanac cover |
Sources:
"The Holy Angel Heals the Leg of John the Gardener." 1912. Guslitsa. In the book: Holy Helpers (Russian Icons of Heavenly Patrons of the 16th to the Early 20th Centuries): Catalog of an Exhibition from Private Collections. Vincent Gallery, November 20 – December 11, 2009. Moscow, 2009, no copy; Icon "John the Gardener." Late 19th – early 20th century. In the book: In the Heavenly Light. Exhibition of Works of Old Russian Art and Contemporary Iconography from Private Collections. Compiled by: Renzhin A.V., Malofeev Yu.A. Moscow, 2003. No. 63.
Saint John the Gardener and Selected Saints. 1894. Guslitsa. In the book: Unbekanntes Russland: Icons of Old Glaubigen of the 18th and 19th Centuries/Edited by: Vetka, Guslicy, Nevjansk, and the Work of Frolov in Rajasthan. Frankfurt am Main, 2010. No. 25, p. 112.
John the Gardener with scenes from the life and images of the Mother of God. Late 19th century. Guslitsa. In the book Unbekanntes Russland. Op. cit. No. 29, p. 116.
Sergius, Archimandrite. Complete Menologion of the East. Vol. II. Moscow, 1876.
Prologue, first half (September - February). Moscow: Pechatny Dvor, 1641.
Ryabushinsky, V.P. Old Believers and Russian Religious Feeling. M., 1994. P. 152–154.
"The Holy Angel Heals the Leg of John the Gardener." 1912. Guslitsa. In the book: Holy Helpers (Russian Icons of Heavenly Patrons of the 16th to the Early 20th Centuries): Catalog of an Exhibition from Private Collections. Vincent Gallery, November 20 – December 11, 2009. Moscow, 2009, no copy; Icon "John the Gardener." Late 19th – early 20th century. In the book: In the Heavenly Light. Exhibition of Works of Old Russian Art and Contemporary Iconography from Private Collections. Compiled by: Renzhin A.V., Malofeev Yu.A. Moscow, 2003. No. 63.
Saint John the Gardener and Selected Saints. 1894. Guslitsa. In the book: Unbekanntes Russland: Icons of Old Glaubigen of the 18th and 19th Centuries/Edited by: Vetka, Guslicy, Nevjansk, and the Work of Frolov in Rajasthan. Frankfurt am Main, 2010. No. 25, p. 112.
John the Gardener with scenes from the life and images of the Mother of God. Late 19th century. Guslitsa. In the book Unbekanntes Russland. Op. cit. No. 29, p. 116.
Sergius, Archimandrite. Complete Menologion of the East. Vol. II. Moscow, 1876.
Prologue, first half (September - February). Moscow: Pechatny Dvor, 1641.
Ryabushinsky, V.P. Old Believers and Russian Religious Feeling. M., 1994. P. 152–154.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.