Monday, June 27, 2016

The coins of the "Joy of All Who Suffer"

From one of my favorite blogs Icons and their Interpretation, a post entitled "The Difference a Few Kopeks Make "The Joy of All Who Suffer 'With Coins'" on a rather unique icon and its history.

In an earlier posting, I talked about the very popular Marian icon type called in Church Slavic Vsem Skorbyashchim Radost, — the “Joy of All Who Suffer.” You may also find it titled Всех скорбящих Радость — Vsekh Skorbyashchikh Radost, which is the same name in Russian. Skorbyashchim/Skorbyashchikh part means both “those who are afflicted” and “those who sorrow,” which is why some translate the title as “Joy of/to Those Who Sorrow.”

Today we will look at an interesting and common subtype of that icon. It is called Всех скорбящих Радость (с грошиками) — Vsekh Skorbyashchikh Radost S Groshikami, meaning “The Joy of All Who Suffer ‘With Coins.'” The example below — which appears to have been painted in oils — bears the title:

ОБРАЗ СКОРБЯЩИЯ ПРЕСВЯТЫЯ БОГОРОДИЦЫ
OBRAZ SKORBYASHCHIYA PRESVYATUIYA BOGORODITSUI
“[THE] IMAGE OF [THE] ‘OF THE SUFFERING’ MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD”

Looking at it, we can see why it is commonly called “With Coins”; it has coins on its surface. In most icons the coins are painted, but the maker of this example used real copper coins inserted into the panel...

Complete article here.

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