Wizerunki św. św. Cyryla i Metodego w cerkwiach na ziemiach polskich. Analiza ikonograficzna

In the 19th century, representations of Cyril and Methodius began to appear in Orthodox churches in the Polish territories that belonged to the Russian and Austrian partitions. This was due to the growing interest in the Slavic apostles for both religious reasons (millennium celebrations) and ideological and political ones (Pan-Slavism, Slavophilism, ecumenism). Based on conducted research, it was found that the formation of the saints’ iconography was greatly influenced by patterns issued in religious books, periodicals, and ephemeral prints and as devotional images. Two main streams of influence can be identified: the Russian Orthodox, centred in Petersburg, and the Western Catholic, with its centre in Velehrad and more broadly, in Moravia. The first trend dominated in the Congress Poland and the border regions of Galicia, while the second prevailed in Greek Catholic churches in western Galicia.