Изображенията на пророк Илия и св. Йоан Предтеча в свода на притвора на Сеславския манастир
Depictions of the Prophet Elias and St. John the Baptist in the vault of the narthex of the Seslavtsi Monastery

Summary/Abstract: In the narthex of the church of St. Nicholas of the Seslavtsi Monastery (1616), in the zenith of the vault, there is a composition consisted of several fields with full length figures whose center along the east-west axis is occupied by the depictions of the Virgin Mary, St John the Baptist and Prophet Elias. The main semantic emphasis in the vault program is placed upon them: the images of the Virgin Mary (without the infant Jesus) and St John can be deciphered as the closest witnesses of the Incarnated God the Word and advocates for the salvation of the mankind while the presence of the Prophet Elias is more uncommon. His image in that prominent place can be interpreted in relation to St John the Baptist, taking into consideration that the two have been defined as precursors of the Messiah as early as in the Holy Scripture. For instance, in his interpretation of the Gospel according to Matthew St John Chrysostom speaks of Elias as precursor of the coming Last Judgment and of John as precursor of the First Advent that had already happened. In this sense the parallel between the two has also been pointed out in the hymnographic works dedicated to them. The juxtaposition of the two on yet another level is well developed in the theological thought as well: they are commensurable in terms of spiritual perfection and ascetic lifestyle and therefore were promoted to models of an anchoret exploit.

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