Archive

A.G. Avdeev (Moscow) – On the Question of Using the Penitential Verse “I See You, Coffin” in Moscow Russia: the Unique Epitaph of 1529/30 from the Novospassky Monastery

download PDF

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the study of the epitaph on the white stone tombstone of 1529/30 with a quote from the penitential verse “I see you, coffin” (CIR1001) in the historical and cultural context of the epoch. This epigraphic document was found in the Novospassky Monastery, Moscow, and is published here for the first time. The expansion of the semantic field is unique for the epitaphs of Moscow Russia of the 16th century and refl ects the completion of the global process of individualization of the image of Death in European (including Ancient Russian) culture in the 14th and 15th centuries. The penitential verse “I see thee, coffin”, which spread in post-Byzantine manuscripts and epitaphs on Mount Athos from the second half of the 15th century, refl ected the individualization of the image of Death in the Orthodox East. In Russian iconography, it appears in the paintings of the northern doors of the iconostasis in the 1540s as a signature to the image of Death-skeleton lying in a coffin, symbolizing the fate of each person. The popularity of this penitential verse in Russia is also evidenced by its numerous handwritten lists, the earliest of which date back to the early 1470s. This work also turned out to be consonant with the grave epigraphy, as evidenced by the studied epitaph. Thus, the Death- skeleton, which appeared in the world thanks to the fall of the great-parents, in a single complex with the verse “I see you, coffin”, imprinted in iconography, book culture and epigraphy, confirmed in the Russian culture of the 16th century its omnipotence and the vanity of earthly life.

Keywords

Corpus inscriptionum Rossicarum, epigraphy of Moscow Russia, epitaphs, Russian culture of the 16th century, penitential verses, Russian iconography, the image of Death.

Alexander G. Avdeev

St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University, Moscow, Russia

Dmitry Pozharsky University, Moscow, Russia

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Avdeev, A.G. 2006: Starorusskaya epigrafika i knizhnost’. Novo-Ierusalimskaya shkola epigraficheskoy poezii [Old Russian Epigraphy and Bookishness. New Jerusalem School of Epigraphic Poetry]. Moscow

Avdeev, A.G. 2017: Obraz smerti v evropeyskoy kul’ture XIV–XV vekov i rozhdenie pominal’noy praktiki v Moskovskoy Rusi [The image of death in the European culture of the 14th–15th centuries and the appearance of memorial practice in Moscow Russia]. In: Polzunovskiy al’manakh [Polzunov Almanac] 4/1.1, 134–143.

Avdeev, A.G., Donskoy, G.G. 2014: “Neistovy bludnik” Ivan (Golova) Solovtsov [“The Furious fornicator” Ivan (Golova) Solovtsov]. Palaeoslavica XXII.2, 119–146

Bogdanov, A.P. 2005: Stikh i obraz menyayushchejsya Rossii. Poslednyaya chetvert’ 17 – nachalo 18 v. [Poem and Image of Changing Russia. The last Quarter of the 17th – the beginning of the 18th century]. Moscow.

Cohen, K. 1973: Metamorphosis of a Dead Symbols. The Transi Tomb in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Berkeley–Los Angeles–London.

Dyachenko, O.A. 2013: Illyustratsiya stikha “Zryu tya, grobe” v postvizantiyskom i russkom iskusstve [Illustration of the verse “I see you, coffin” in post-Byzantine and Russian art]. In: Grecheskie ikony i stenopisi 12–16 vv. [Greek Icons and Wall Paintings of the 12th – 16th Centuries] (Trudy Tsentral’nogo muzeya drevnerusskoy kul’tury i iskusstva im. Andreya Rubleva [Proceedings of the Andrey Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art]. Vol. 6). Moscow, 180–202.

Dyachenko, O.A. 2017: Ikony Podmoskov’ya. Pamyatniki iz sela Semyonovskogo i goroda Dmitrova kontsa 16 – serediny 17 v. [Icons of the Moscow Region. Monuments from of the village of Semenovskoe and Dmitrov of the Late 16th – Mid-17th Century]. Moscow.

Glebova, A.A., Majmasov, S.B., Petrova, T.G. 2008: Drevnerusskoe iskusstvo v sobranii Vologodskogo muzeya-zapovednika. Putevoditel’ po ekspozitsii [Ancient Russian Art in the Vologda Museum-Reserve. Exhibition Guide]. Moscow.

Kagan, M.D., Ponyrko, N.V., Rozhdestvenskaya, M.V. 1980: Opisanie knizhnykh sbornikov pistsa Efrosina [Description of the book collections of scribe Efrosin]. In: Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury Instituta russkogo Yazyka i literatury Rossiyskoy akademii nauk (Pushkinskij dom) [Proceedings of the Department of Ancient Russian Literature of the Institute of Russian Language and Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House)] 35, 3–300.

Kondakov, N.P. 1902: Pamyatniki khristianskogo iskusstva na Afone [Monuments of Christian Art on Mount Athos]. Saint Petersburg.

Millet, G., Pargoire, J., Petit, L. 1904: Recueil des Inscriptions Chrétiennes de l’Athos. Pt. 1. Paris (repr.: Θεσσαλονικη, 2004).

Petukhov, E.V. 1895: Ocherki iz literaturnoj istorii russkogo Sinodika [Essays from the Literary History of the Russian Synodicon]. Saint Petersburg

Sergeev, V.N. 1971: Duhovnyy stikh “Plach Adama” na ikone [The spiritual verse “Adam’s Lament” on the icon]. In: Trudy otdela drevnerusskoy literatury Instituta russkogo Yazyka i literatury Rossiyskoy akademii nauk (Pushkinskij dom) [Proceedings of the Department of Ancient Russian Literature of the Institute of Russian Language and Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House)] 26, 280–286.

Shalina, I.A. 2000: Bokovye vrata ikonostasa: simvolicheskiy zamysel i ikonografiya [Side gates of the iconostasis: symbolic design and iconography]. In: A.M. Lidov (ed.), Ikonostas. Proiskhozhdenie – Razvitie – Simvolika [Iconostasis. The Origin – Development – Symbolism]. Moscow, 559–598.

Squires, E.R. 2022: Opyty filologicheskikh rekonstruktsiy [Essays on Philological Reconstructions]. Moscow.

Vladyshevskaya, T.F., Sergeev V.N. 1981: Pokayannyy stikh “Zryu tya, grobe” v literature, zhivopisi i muzyke 17 veka [Penitential verse “I see you, coffin” in literature, painting and music of the 17th century]. In.: V.N. Sergeev (ed.), Drevnerusskoe iskusstvo 15–17 vekov. Sbornik statey [Ancient Russian Art of the 15th — 17th Centuries. Collection of Papers]. Moscow, 108–117.

Details
Hits: 116