Query: What does "Easter" mean?

Pieces of East, Easter, and Eastest

Being a well-known expert in religions and grammar, I often get this sort of question. On this particular issue, we must recognize that "Easter" is a comparative form. Here are the three forms:

Positive Form: East

Comparative Form: Easter (more East)

Superlative Form: Eastest (most East)

In other words, a place could be East of Eden, another place could be Easter (more East) of Eden, and yet another place could be Eastest (most East) of Eden.

Alexander Boguslawski: "Theotokos of Kazan" and "Blessed Silence"

Theotokos of Kazan

Alexander Boguslawski

(Image provided by Alexander Boguslawski)

My wife showed me how to transfer images stored on my computer to Photobucket, which I referred to yesterday, so I can now reveal the above icon by Alexander Boguslawski as well as seven more more icons of Christ the Blessed Silence.

Actually, Boguslawski calls his icon the "Mother of God of Kazan," but "Theotokos" means "God-Bearer" in Greek and is less literally 'translated' as "Mother of God" in English. The expressions are used in Orthodox and Catholic Christianity to refer to the Virgin Mary but aren't intended to imply that Mary herself was divine, simply to emphasize her role as Christ's mother. Perhaps Professor Boguslawski himself could say more on this if he happens to visit here and has time for commenting.

There exists, by the way, an original "Theotokos of Kazan," which I've provided below for ease of comparison:

Theotokos of Kazan

Russia, 16th Century

(Image from Wikipedia)

Boguslawski has subtly altered the direction in which the eyes of the Virgin and the Infant are focused. The Virgin in the original icon looks directly at us, and her head is slightly less inclined. Boguslawski's Virgin, her head more bowed and her face so serious, seems lost in contemplation, as if reflecting down upon the earthly pain to come, but her uplifted eyes suggest a reliance upon God. By having the head bowed and the eyes raised, she gives the impression of looking both down and up simultaneously. Interestingly, Boguslawski has made the Infant more youthful but also, like the Virgin, so very serious, whereas the original Infant seems to have the hint of a smile despite being depicted as aged beyond his infancy. In neither icon does the Infant look at us. In the original, he appears to gaze upward, but Boguslawski's has him gazing downward, perhaps reflecting upon his earthly mission ahead. But these are my subjective impressions, for I lack any expertise on these works of sacred art.

Below are the images of the seven icons showing Christ the Blessed Silence that Professor Boguslawski fowarded from the art expert and dealer Richard Temple to me, including the two icons with the seraphim depicted in a manner similar to the depiction of the seraph in the icon posted yesterday (and also prior to that). Since these seven were not identified, I cannot provide any further information as to their origins, but we can still appreciate their beauty:

Christ the Blessed Silence

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

Christ the Blessed Silence

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

Christ the Blessed Silence

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

Christ the Blessed Silence

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

Christ the Blessed Silence

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

Next come the two icons with the seraphim depicted: first with the blue ones and then with the red ones:

Christ the Blessed Silence

Depicted with Blue Seraphim

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

Christ the Blessed Silence

Depicted with Red Seraphim

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

And for our convenience, a detail of the traditional, red seraphim:

Detail of Christ the Blessed Silence

The Three Red Seraphim

(Image provided by Richard Temple)

So, here they are in all their glory. Icons, I might add, are believed by the devout to be windows into the sacred realm, so one is not simply staring at a religious object, one is gazing into paradise itself, even if the specific image depicts an earthly scene from the life of Christ or some saint. Thus, they really are depicted here in all their glory. Or possibly not . . . for I've only provided images of the originals. A sort of borrowed heaven.

And that's about all that I can show or say on this topic of the 'winged' Christ in Christian art.

UPDATE: Alexander Boguslawski has informed me: "As far as the Blessed Silence icons are concerned, only four of them came from Richard Temple's Gallery; the rest were collected over the Internet." However, since I don't know which are from where, I'll leave the identification as is (until I should happen to find the online sources).

Alexander Boguslawski: More on Seraph in Bosom of "Christ the Blessed Silence"

Christ the Blessed Silence

Russian, circa 1700 (30.7 x 27 cm)

(Image from The Temple Gallery)

Christ the Blessed Silence

Detail with Seraph

(Image from The Temple Gallery)

In my Thursday post providing Alexander Boguslawski's fascinating and useful, detailed information about this Russian icon showing a seraph nestled in the bosom of Christ the Blessed Silence, I closed with these words:

Perhaps some reader who knows the explanation to this puzzling image of the the seraph in Christ's bosom will take the time to lead us through the labyrinth to the answer.

Well, a reader did step forth with more information, none other than, once again, Professor Boguslawski himself, who provided "Some news on the Blessed Silence":

I contacted Richard Temple (an old friend) and discovered from his reply that he had on his site two other icons featuring seraphim (or cherubim). I am attaching a series of pictures for you, as well as Temple's commentary on those icons. He has no idea why the iconography changed or allowed these variations (there are, for instance, blue cherubim in one of the icons).

I'd like to post those images that Boguslawski sent, but I couldn't locate them at The Temple Gallery, and I don't yet know how to copy them from my computer onto my site at Photobucket, the online service that I use to store the images that I post here on my blog. If I figure that out, I'll post them, for the two mentioned by Boguslawski differ from the icon above in that they each show three seraphim -- one in the center and two on each side.

Meanwhile, here's what Richard Temple has written:

BLESSED SILENCE. ("Blagoe Molchanie")

Christ depicted as an angel is based on Isaiah 9:5 who refers to "The Messenger ("Angelos") of Great Counsel". He is the "Word in Eternity" and, according to Coomber in The Icon Handbook, (Springfield Illinois, 1995), the iconography is "associated with the Creation and the Plan of Salvation, ordained from Eternity".

Other references from Isaiah are relevant: 42:2 "He shall not...cause his voice to be heard in the streets"; 53:7 "He was afflicted yet opened not his mouth...as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opens not his mouth".

Two four pointed stars, one superimposed on the other, are seen within Christ's halo; their eight points are said to symbolize Eternity and the whole of Creation. (The Octave is the symbol of completion).

Christ is clothed as a bishop (cf Hebrews 4:14 "...we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ, Son of God...". Seraphim, six-winged, bodiless and traditionally red, adorn the upper part of his chest and arms. The Seraphim, according to Dionysius the Areopagite, are the highest order of Angels and stand at the entrance into Paradise. Below Christ's navel is a Cherub, also bodiless and regarded as second in the angelic order. Christ holds the traditional Russian eight pointed cross and an inscribed scroll: "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

The subject was introduced into the iconographical canon in Russia in the 16th century. At that time Moscow, which had recently declared itself the Third Rome, was a milieu of intense theological and iconographical activity. (See N.P. Kondakov, The Russian Icon, OUP 1928, Chapter Mystical and Didactic Subjects).

I'm not sure which of the three images depicting a seraph in the bosom of Christ that Temple is referring to, for I don't see the cherub above Christ's navel, but given this information and the two additional images, Boguslawski has concluded:

Therefore, my statement that the icon was "absolutely unique" needs to be changed to "unusual." My explanation that it indicates the closeness of the heavenly forces to Christ still holds... Well, and now we have a nice collection of images...

And we may soon have one more, for Boguslawski tells me:

I am even tempted to paint my own icon of the Blessed Silence, since I am a modern day iconographer (see an example of one of my works -- the recently finished Mother of God of Kazan).

Again, I would like to provide that Theotokian image, but it is stubbornly stuck on my computer rather than 'unstuck' on Photobucket. You can, however, visit Boguslawski's own website for exhibiting his art, including several of his icons, but I don't see his "Mother of God of Kazan" included.

In his closing remarks, Boguslawski added some kind words:

And one more comment -- I love your blog! What a relief to find a literate person!

To this, I replied:

I'm glad that you like my blog. I don't know that I'm really so literate, but I do have a lot of interests -- mostly of things that I can't so easily comprehend, but a man's reach must exceed his grasp, else what's a heaven for?

I wish that I had even a modicum of your linguistic and artistic talent . . . and your other talents as well. Perhaps mine is a talent for blogging. But like the winged Christ with seraph, I am not unique. I've found a host of intelligent, literate bloggers. My own blog might be unusual for the range of things that I post on. Just today, I blogged about my Ozark home...

But I'll leave the degree to which my blog is 'unusual' to the judgement of my peers, those who peer here.

Alexander Boguslawski: Seraph in Bosom of "Christ the Blessed Silence"

Detail, Christ the Blessed Silence

Russian, circa 1700 (30.7 x 27 cm)

(Image from The Temple Gallery)

Two blog-days ago, I posted the entire icon of which the above image is a detail, and for ease of comparison, here is the full icon, albeit much reduced in size:


As previously noted, Brandon Watson (who blogs at Siris) drew my attention to this Russian Orthodox icon some days ago when I was blogging about various depictions of Christ as a winged figure in Western art.

I noticed that the icon depicted a seraph held in the bosom of Christ, and in my response to Brandon, I called his attention to the seraph and wondered if it were an allusion to the story of St. Francis receiving the stigmata from a six-winged 'Christ' in that puzzling vision, where Christ, a seraph, and the soul of St. Francis appear to coincide in identity -- a baffling vision to which I devoted several blog entries.

Brandon doubted an allusion to St. Francis, and I myself had thought the possibility remote but wanted at least to air it.

Just to be certain that this was not such an allusion to St. Francis, and also to learn more about the icon, I emailed an expert, Professor Alexander Boguslawski, who had noticed (and commented on) an earlier post of mine on Andrei Rublev's icon of The Old Testament Trinity, for I had cited Boguslawski's analysis of that icon in my blog entry.

Before sending the email to Professor Boguslawski, I posted my query in a reply to the comment that he had posted on Rublev's icon:

By the way, if you have time, perhaps you could explain this icon showing a winged Christ the Blessed Silence with what appears to be a seraph in his bosom.

When I saw this, I wondered if there were some allusion to the winged 'Christ' of St. Francis's vision when he received the stigmata, for 'Christ' took the form of a seraph there (though such a Catholic allusion would be unexpected in an Orthodox painting).

I then sent Professor Boguslawski the mentioned email, just to make sure that he was aware of my query:

Greetings from Jeffery Hodges (aka Gypsy Scholar). I was pleased to hear from you in the comment to my blog post on Rublev. I left a reply there, and also a query, directing you to my most-recent blog entry. I'm curious about the six-winged seraph in the bosom of a winged Christ (in the form of the Blessed Silence). What does the seraph signify? If you take a look at the blog entry (and some of its links), you'll understand my query.

Here is his reply, which he posted as a comment to my blog entry of two days ago on this seraph in Christ's bosom:

I can answer some of the questions you posed, but, unfortunately, not all... The seraphim is definitely not an allusion to St. Francis, even though St. Francis did have a vision of a seraphim! The icon from the Temple Gallery seems to be absolutely unique; I looked through my extensive book collection and through the Russian Orthodox sites and found not even one similar icon of the Holy Silence. On all icons, the angelic figure is shown with hands crossed at the bosom. So why the seraphim at this particular icon? The only possible explanation I can think of would be that the author of this icon wanted to stress the closeness of the seraphim to God.

The God-loving six-winged SERAPHIM stand closer than all before their Creator and Maker, as the prophet Isaiah saw, saying: "And the seraphim stood around Him, each having six wings" (Isaiah 6:2). They are fire-like since they stand before That One of Whom it is written: "For our God is a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:29); "His throne was a flame of fire" (Dan 7:9); "the appearance of the Lord was like a blazing fire" (Ex. 24:17). Standing before such glory, the seraphim are fire-like, as it said: "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire" (Ps. 103:4). They are aflame with love for God and kindle others to such love, as I shown by their very name, for "seraphim" in the Hebrew language means: "flaming".

Icons of Holy Silence (Blessed Silence) were most popular among the Old Believers, but they, as dedicated traditionalists, would not accept any significant change in iconography. Therefore, the question why the seraphim was included in this icon remains unanswered... I wonder whether Richard Temple realized what kind of a unique work he had in his gallery.

I hope all this helps. Looking forward to finding more about this and other icons.

That the icon was "absolutely unique" thrilled me -- in an intellectual way -- and I replied:

[T]hank you for your reply to my query about the seraph in this icon.

I looked more closely at the icon at Richard Temple's website, and since the site allows close-ups of details, I was able to see the seraph more clearly. Although the figure is clearly a seraph, given the six wings, it seems to have no body and looks more like an image of the sun -- which would connect to the Hebrew meaning of "seraph" as "flaming."

This looks like a topic for an article, but I lack the expertise in icons. Perhaps you will write something?

Meanwhile, I'll post your comment as a blog entry, for this is informative stuff.

And today's is that 'promised' blog entry. Perhaps some reader who knows the explanation to this puzzling image of the the seraph in Christ's bosom will take the time to lead us through the labyrinth to the answer.

UPDATE: Concerning the seraph's lack of a body, Professor Boguslawski informs me that "In Russian tradition, seraphim are always represented this way (they can be larger in size)," so my speculation about a possible resemblence to the "sun" is perhaps way off target.

Christ as Winged Holy Silence

Jesus Christ as Winged Holy Silence

(Image from Elizabeth T. Knuth's Website)

I noted in an earlier blog entry that over at the Milton List, the scholar Paul Miller had called attention to Rublev's winged trinity. Well, he also linked to still another tradition of a winged 'Christ' -- in the figure of a winged Holy Silence.

For instance, he linked to the above depiction at the website of Elizabeth T. Knuth, who not only provides the icon but also tells us:

This remarkable icon depicts Christ as Holy Silence. The inscription on the bottom border says, "Hê hagia hêsychia", that is, "Holy silence." Hesychia is much sought after in Orthodox spirituality, but this is clearly an icon of Christ, for the inscription within the icon itself reads, "Jesus Christ." Is the Word now silent? Is it not rather that the Word is found and speaks in silence?

The figure in the icon has wings, a sign of heavenly origin, as in Rublev's famous icon of the Trinity. Christ is wearing red robes. Red is the color of the Incarnation, and also the color of grace. The diamond on Christ's breast is surrounded by seven jewels, seven being the number of perfection and the number of gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In iconography, Christ as Hesychia is sometimes depicted as masculine and at other times, as in this instance, in feminine form. The same can be said of the portrayal of Christ as Holy Wisdom.

Wisdom, if not depicted in the Old Testament as a Person in the Trinitarian sense, is certainly personified and identified very closely with God. In Hebrew and Greek, the Biblical languages, Wisdom is feminine. Therefore Divine Wisdom is "she". See, for example, Proverbs 8 and the beginning of the following chapter. Christians understood these Old Testament references to Wisdom as foreshadowing Christ. The Gospels tell of Jesus Christ in words that are often reminiscent of Holy Wisdom, and St. Paul more than once calls Christ the Wisdom of God. This icon accordingly portrays Christ as Wisdom incarnate.

As Knuth notes, "the inscription within the icon itself reads, 'Jesus Christ,'" i.e., "IC XC," the abbreviation in Greek capital letters for "Iēsous Christós." Knuth further identifies this figure not only as "Holy Silence" (Hê Hagia Hêsychia) but also as "Holy Wisdom" (Hagia Sophia).

I do not know if identifying "Holy Silence" with "Holy Wisdom" is also traditional, or if Knuth herself is suggesting this identification. She does note that Christ as Holy Silence appears in both feminine and masculine form.

For a masculine winged figure of Holy Silence as Christ, see the following icon by Suzanne Zoole:

Suzanne Zoole, Christ the Holy Silence (2001)

(Image from The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts)

Ms. Zoole tells us that this "icon was painted during a five day silent retreat at Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery in Moncks Corner, South Carolina."

I think that I could use about a week of silence, but no time off for me, though this might help a little...