Rare scenes in the iconography of saints in the churches of Belarus

Abstract

The plots of sacral art of Belarus are analyzed. The rare icons that occur in
temples not more than in three cases are selected for analysis. Brief descriptions of
the depicted saints and the iconography of certain works are considered. The main
part of the considered icons dates to the end of the 18th – the beginning of 20th
centuries and corresponds to the iconographic canon, when the saints and martyrs
were presented each separately with their attributes and instruments of torture.
The level of influence of Western European sacral art on the iconography of
Belarus is investigated. It is established that the plot of the icon “The miracle of
St. John Cantius” was copied exactly from the work of the famous Polish and
Italian painter of the 18th century Tadeusz Kuntze. It is substantiated that some of the icons, though created under the influence of works of Western European
art, yet differ in compositional peculiarity. Special attention is paid to such plots
of the icons: “The Archangel Raphael and Tobias in front of Tobit”, “The torment
of St. Procopius”, “St. Bernard”. Especially notable is the plot of “St. Sebastian”,
where the author has created an unusual composition and was able to convey the
expression in the image of the dying saint.
Keywords: icon, the Holy Martyrs, iconography, attributes