Εικόνα της Συνάξεως των Αρχαγγέλων στην Ι. Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας Αγίου Όρους και το καλλιτεχνικό περιβάλλον της προέλευσής της

Icon of the Assembly of the Archangels (Synaxis of the Archangels) in the Great Lavra Monastery of Mount Athos and the artistic environment of its origin In the Great Lavra Monastery of Mount Athos, an unpublished icon depicting the Assembly of the Archangels is kept. This depiction is particularly elaborate, presenting all the formal and symbolic elements established for illustrating the subject. The formulation of the iconographic theme of the Assembly of the Archangels is placed after the Iconoclasm, a time when most discourses and praises for the Angels were written, and it seems to have a Constantinopolitan origin. The oldest examples of this theme are found in monumental painting and date from the 11th century, while in portable icons, the theme appears from the 13th century. The iconographic and stylistic elements of Lavra’s icon indicate models from the first half of the 14th century, such as the paintings in the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Church of Agios Nikolaos the Orphan in Thessaloniki, which the artist seems to know well However, the rare iconographic peculiarities and the direct artistic connection found between Lavra’s icon and similar depictions in monumental paintings in churches of medieval Serbia, such as Lesnovo and Mateić (today North Macedonia), lead us to confidently date the icon to the middle of the 14th century. The classical atmosphere exuded by the work and the emphasis on the spiritual content of the subject also suggest an artist familiar with and adopting the values seen in the aforementioned monuments of the mid-14th century. We do not consider it a coincidence that in the same period Saint Gregory Palamas, the main exponent of the Hesychastic movement, also monasticized in Lavra. The theme of the Assembly of the Archangels indicates the association of State and Church. However, the choice of the iconographic variation and the placement of Christ-Emmanuel in full body within a graduated mandorla, held by the Archangels, in Lavra’s icon directly refer to an artist who had connections with the Hesychasts of a major cultural and spiritual center of the empire, such as Thessaloniki or even the Great Lavra Monastery. The fact that Saint Gregory Palamas, a leading figure of Hesychasm, also resided in the Great Lavra Monastery during this period further supports this connection.