Nikita besogon - holy martyr Nikita, casting out the demon, on crosses and icons from Tver

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Among the finds collected in the city of Tver on the eroded banks of the Volga, Tvertsa, and Tmaka rivers, a significant group is made up of crosses depicting the holy Martyr Nikita the Besogon. Similar finds are known in Staritsa and its surroundings, as well as in Rzhev, Torzhok and Beliy Gorodok. This plot has long attracted the attention of researchers.

IN Chetyrkin and NG Dobrykin made reports on this topic at the X Archaeological Congress in Riga in 1Q%. IN Okuneva examined in detail the icons depicting St. Nikita Besogon. According to a number of researchers (A. V. Ryndina, S. V. Gnutova), this plot is most typical for the monuments of the Novgorod-Tver circle of the XIV-XVI centuries [3]. It goes back to the New Testament Apocrypha "The Legend of Nikita's Torment" (Life of St. Nikita, Nikitin's Torment), a list of which was first discovered by AN Pypin and published by Count Kushedev-Bezborodko [4].

known in several lists in Greek and Slavic languages. They date back to the XII-XVI centuries. In this work, we used a list of l of the 16th century. the former Rumyantsev Museum, published by N. Tikhonravov [5]. It also contains a story for Nikita, the son of the Emperor Maximian. The story of his belief in God, a description of the torments he endured for the faith, his temptation by a demon, the story of his death and posthumous miracles.

Events in the apocrypha develop as follows: Nikita was tortured five times, demanding that he renounce and serve the "idol" gods. But for his unlimited faith, God led him unharmed through all the torments. They threw him in prison in chains. Then the devil appeared to him in angelic clothes and, posing as a messenger of God, began to persuade him to serve the gods "idol".

All in doubts, the martyr turned with a prayer to God, so that he would help him figure it out. And the Archangel Michael appeared to him, giving advice to subject the "God's messenger" to a test. What Nikita did:. The devil had a hard time, and he confessed In his black plans (the Commission of Satan). Thus, Nikita got rid of the devil's temptation and strengthened his faith.

Apocrypha in Orthodoxy refers to works of church content that are not recognized as sacred; the one we are considering refers to the New Testament. In its attitude to them, the ROC has gone from their adoption (they came to Russia along with Orthodoxy and were widespread) to complete prohibition, while some of them were allowed to read, and some were included in the "Index" of prohibited books already in the 17th century. Among them we meet our

For almost 600 years of existence, the story about Nikita has not remained unchanged. In Christian culture, the process of merging all demon-fighters (Archangel Michael, Isikhail, St. Dmitry, St. Martyr Nikita of Gotha, St. Martyr Nikita) began to merge into a single image of the winner, symbolizing the victory of Christianity over the power of paganism (the devil). This was expressed in a departure from literal illustration of the text of the Apocrypha and the acquisition by demon-fighters of a number of common features (clothing, position, etc.).

To date, more than 140 carriers of the images of St. torment. Nikita. Among them: a relief from the Dmitrovsky Cathedral in Vladimir (1197). icons (XVII-XVIII centuries). a fresco (1502), numerous stone and metal icons and crosses, as well as a wooden sculpture from the Moscow Kremlin (early 17th century).

1. Crosses depicting the holy Martyr Nikita the Besogon

There are 102 known carriers to date. The geography of finds is quite extensive: Kaluga (7), Kiev (4), Ryazan (4), Smolensk (1). 85 finds are associated with the Tver region: Tver (67), Staritsa (7), Bely Gorodok (5), Rzhev (3), Torzhok (1). They are kept in museums of Tver, St. Petersburg and a number of private collections.

There are crosses made of lifting material in places of strong destruction of the cultural layer (72), most often this is the bank of the river. Volga and archaeological excavations (2).

The mapping of the finds made it possible to identify the places of their greatest accumulation. For Tver, this is Zatmatsky Posad (the area of the new stadium), single finds come from the Kremlin, Zagorodsky and Zatveretsky Posad and Barminovka. In addition to finished products, among the crosses under consideration are 15 copies. not finished with manufacturing (they have not drilled an eyelet, not sawed off scale and moldings; there are 2-3 crosses, cast in the rough and connected to each other) or represent a marriage (that is, the eyelet or one of the ends is not refilled). They come from Zatmatsky Posad (13 pcs.) And Barminovskaya Sloboda (2 pcs., Pre-revolutionary fees). The discovery of a whole complex of things is also associated with the Zatmatsky Posad, apparently from the washed-out workshop of a copper foundry. These are 18 crosses (14 are roughly cast) and, in addition, 2 small copper ingots (?). They were found in the 19th century. on the banks of the river. Volga against the church of St. Boris and Gleb [6].

In addition, during archaeological excavations in Zatmatsky Posad in 1990 (E. V. Kalinina and A. N. Khokhlov, excavation No. 7), several complexes with wastes from the bronze foundry were uncovered. Among the finds are defective crosses, fragments of crucibles. These complexes can be interpreted as the remains of a bronze foundry workshop.

Three finds from Staritsa come from the crumbling cemetery layer. According to the joint finds of specific coins, they can be dated to the 14th-15th centuries. [7).

Finds from Bely Gorodok [5] also come from a crumbling cemetery of the 17th century.4 All the crosses under consideration with the image of Nikita the Besogon are divided into two large groups: 48x30 mm, 27x17 mm). We have 10 copies of them: Tver - 6 Staritsa - 3, Torzhok - 1. They are made, as a rule, from alloys and only one (from Torzhok) - from bone.

Image of St. torment. Nikita can be in the central part of the cross, in the bottom or on the back. With a multi-figured composition, in addition to St. Nikita, images of the Savior Not Made by Hands, St. Nikola, Crucifixion, plots of 12 holidays.

By typology, these crosses are divided into:

- four-pointed with rectangular ends (7 pcs.). Mostly unpublished. For the first time such crosses were published by A. Zhiznevsky, mistakenly dating the 12th-12th centuries. [6]. They date back to the 14th-16th centuries by modern researchers.

- four-pointed with rounded ends (3 pcs.). Known in the literature as pseudo-encolpions of the Moscow type. Dated to the XV-XVI centuries. [eight].

b) pectoral crosses. They are small in size: 22x15 mm, 22x11 mm (75 pieces). Made of copper and lead-tin alloy, billon (?).

Image of St. torment. Nikita (due to the small space, most often conditional) in the center. On the sides there may be inscriptions: "NIKI", "NIKITA", "NIKITIA". The bulk comes from Tver (66), there are also finds from Staritsa (1), Bely Gorodok (5), Rzhev (3). The crosses from Staritsa and Bely Gorodok come from the crumbling cemetery layer.

Crosses-vests can be either one-sided or two-sided. On the reverse side, most often - a guarding prayer to the holy or life-giving cross ("We worship Your Cross …"). Prayer, as a rule, is encrypted in capital letters (like "BBBB" - "the scourge of God to beat demons").

By typology, they are divided into:

- four-pointed with rectangular ends. Found in Tver Rzhev, Staritsa along the banks of the river. Volga. Widely published by AK Zhiznevsky (dated them to the 16th-7th centuries), NF Romanchenko (dated from the 14th-15th centuries), VG Putsko (dated the 16th century) [8].

- four-pointed with beveled sides (2 pieces). One of them measures 22x10 mm (unpublished).

- a four-pointed cross with expanding blades (like a cannon or Austrian). Dimensions (16x12 mm - broken off). Crosses of a similar shape are known in Southern Russia [9].

A whole complex of beliefs is associated with crosses in Russian culture. They were widespread among the population. They were made from gold, silver, wood, bone, various metal alloys, but most of all from copper. Buried most often with copper or wooden crosses, silver and iron crosses were not worn on the deceased.

According to legend, a pectoral cross with two (?) Images of St. Nikita belonged to Sergius of Radonezh (later kept in the Pavlo-Obnorsky monastery of the Vologda province) [10].

Copper crosses even at the end. XVI century were very dear and not accessible to everyone, as we find a mention in the Life of the Monk Irinarch of Rostov (XVI century) [11].

2. Images and icons depicting the holy Martyr Nikita the Besogon

To date, 33 image carriers are known. More than half of them cannot be georeferenced due to their origin from private pre-revolutionary collections.

About 20 carriers are associated with Moscow, with Ryazan - 4, with Bryansk - 1, Rostov - 1, Tver - 6 and Staritsa - 1. They are mostly kept in museum collections. They were made from slate with a setting in silver, entirely from metal-silver or copper alloys.

Three slate icons are associated with Tver presumably, relying mainly on the plot. They are excellently published [12], and it makes no sense to analyze them in this work. We will limit ourselves only to listing and dating:

1. Ascension - Nikita with a demon (XIV-XV ct). 2. Dormition - Nikita with a demon (XIV-XV centuries) 3. Christ Pantokrator - Nikita with a demon (XIV-XV centuries).

There is information about the presence in a private collection in Tver of a bronze icon with enamels with Nikita the Besogon (Old Believer plastic of the late 17th-18th centuries), as well as about the finding of an icon-vest in Beliy Gorodok and a stone icon with Nikita in Kimry in 60-70 -x years XX century 5

The icon (small vest) from the Staritsa is of great interest. The author of the find dates it to the 14th-15th centuries. (NF Romanchenko) [7]. An analogy was found in the Bryansk Museum (BOKM, Inn. N 11381). Its dimensions are 20x30 mm (staritskaya - 23x25 mm), a faceted eyelet, the saint in tunic-like clothes and a cloak blunts the demon with a knotted stick (?), Stepping on it with his foot. It comes from lifting material during archaeological excavations near the village. Ryabtsevo, dated to the 16th century. 6 Staritskaya icon was found at one of the burials of the cemetery of the 14th-15th centuries. on the banks of the river. Volga, excavated by NF Romanchenko in 1896 [7].

Summarizing the observations over the image of St. torment. Nikita from these two groups of finds, we can draw the following conclusions

The existence of this plot in Russia, numbering about 600 years, requires its consideration by distinguishing three components: a) the image of Nikita himself, b) the image of the demon (devil), c) the details of the ornamental image of the plot, the position of Nikita and the demon relative to each other, consider these three components in more detail.

a) Nikita is portrayed as young (beardless), middle-aged or old (bent back, beard). St. the martyr is now short-brimmed (like a caftan), belted, then long-brimmed (like a monastic robe), with or without a cloak. There are pictures of Nikita in armor and a helmet.

b) The demon (devil) is almost always depicted in profile, trying to escape from the hands of the saint. His hair is reared up in the form of a "cap" (the usual hairstyle of evil spirits) Actually, by the hair of his saint, and hold. The devil's body is naked, behind his back there are weakly hanging wings, his arms are stretched forward, sometimes a rod is held in one of his hands. There are images of a demon in the form of a small imp or something similar to a short-winged chicken.

c) The scene of the beating of the demon by the martyr can be placed against the background of a complex architecture (dungeon -?) Nikita can beat the demon both sitting and standing, holding the demon in weight or crushing him with one leg.

Taking into account the dated images of Nikita on various media and constructing the scheme of the plot's existence as close as possible to the text of "The Tale …" until the almost complete loss of connection with it, we get the opportunity to clarify the dating (I. N. Okuneva, T. V. Nikolaev) St. martyr. We have three types of images.

1. The first type (Fig. 1. 2, 3) is closest to the "Legend …". A saint in a long robe sits, stands up, or stands next to the bench. The demon is depicted as humanoid. Withdrawn beats him with shackles. Dating - XII-XV centuries. Carriers: encolpions (12th century), pectoral crosses (14th-15th centuries), vest crosses (14th-15th centuries), icons (14th-15th centuries).

2. The second type (Fig. 4-10). Nikita is standing. St. martyr can vary greatly. The demon is most often a hare or chicken. St. the martyr now with a rope, now with a chain, now with a rolling pin (?) or with a knotted stick (roll). The connection with the "Legend …" is beginning to be lost. Carriers: icons (XV-XVI centuries), pectoral crosses (XV-XVI centuries), vest crosses (XV-XVI centuries). Old Believer icons (XVIII-XIX centuries) are included here as an exception (deliberate conservation of Old Russian traditions).

3. The third type (fig. 11-14). Image of St. Nikita is very conventional. In addition, there is a tendency to merge the images of all demon fighters into one. The saint can be portrayed in military attire. He can even smite the devil (demon) with the sign of the cross. There is an almost complete loss of connection with the text "Legends …" The type of the XVII century is dated. Carriers: wooden sculpture (early 17th century), icons (17th-19th centuries), icon painting (Kaluga, 17th century), telnik crosses (17th century).

In conclusion, the following should be emphasized:

- finds in Tver of a large number of crosses (60%), the total number of known products of this kind of semi-finished products and marriage with images of the holy martyr Nikita Besogon, the remains of bronze casting workshops, the absence of finds of such crosses in Novgorod - all this allows us to attribute the monuments attributed earlier the Novgorod-Tver circle, mainly to the Tver antiquities;

- finds of pectoral crosses and vests near Staraya Ryazan [8], in Kaluga, Kiev, Rzhev, as well as icons-vests in Staritsa, Bely Gorodok and the Bryansk region can be considered the works of the Tver circle. And such a wide distribution of finds (for example, a find near St. Ryazan, etc.) should be considered an indicator of the development of trade relations;

- the existence of the plot with the holy martyr Nikita has the following time boundaries: a stone relief on the western wall of the Dmitrov Cathedral in Vladimir (1197) - Old Believer icons (XVIII-XIX centuries). The period of greatest distribution is the 2nd half. XIV - 1st floor. XVI centuries.