IMAGES OF SAVAOF: ORIGINS AND CONTENT OF THE ICONIC IMAGES

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IMAGES OF SAVAOF: ORIGINS AND CONTENT OF THE ICONIC IMAGES

Journal Title: Філософські обрії - Year 2017, Vol 0, Issue 37

Abstract

Revival of symbolic row of Ukrainian culture, which is in tandem with the recovery of material and spiritual heritage of the Ukrainian people, actualizes researchers` appeals to study Ukrainian iconography. After all, despite the fact that a number of iconographic scenes were deemed non-canonical by the Orthodox Church, they received highest consideration among the common people. The leaders among these icons are iconic images of Savaof, Coronation of the Virgin, Bogorodica Trojeručica and so on. On each of the given icons, there is always the image of God the Father, which according to canonical doctrine, can`t be seen and thus can`t be portrayed. Despite the fact that the study of a wide veneration of images of Savaof in the Ukrainian traditional outlook provides an opportunity to better reveal the features of symbolic row of Ukrainian culture and ethnic characteristics of its key archetype, today we have a distinct shortage of works dedicated to exploring of this issue. Separate exploration of Ukrainian iconography was dedicated by such contemporary Ukrainian researchers as I. Kondratieva, N. Kryvda, U. Chernomorets, O. Chubenko and others. Meanwhile, their works dealt primarily to the canonical iconography in general and not to symbolism of specific iconographic stories. Considering the debating place of images of Savaof in Orthodox culture and national outlook, the aim of our study was the disclosure of the origins and content load of images of Savaof in Ukrainian folk iconography in general and in home icon particularly. During the study it was found that the images of Savaof had ambivalent character, as they were formed by the organic combination of the Old Testament and New Testament tradition. On this background it is shown that the proposed preservation of Judaism unknowable concept of the Almighty Creator God in Christianity was associated with the New Testament idea of the unity of the only begotten of the Father and of the Son, opening the possibility of the image of “non-imaging” God. At the same time, in Christianity maintained the doctrine that God Father, Savaof (God Almighty), as the owner of the forces (“the armies”) of heaven and earth, is the Prototype - It does not have an image and can`t be shown. As a result, its image first appeared in church murals, which revealed features of theological concepts, acquiring a purely didactic value. It was emphasized that the spread of images of Savaof in the iconography was associated with apocalyptic prophecies about the Second Coming of Christ, “the Ancient of Days,” whose image was gradually transformed from a terrible Almighty “heaven and earth forces” in the wise old man, the patron saint of human affairs.

Authors and Affiliations

Ольга Вадимівна БОГОМОЛЕЦЬ

Keywords

EP ID EP496343
DOI 10.5281/zenodo.808817
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