Iconographic Composition «Let us, We Who Mystically Represent the Cherubim» on the Phelonions of 1624 from the Workshop of Evdokia Nesterovna Stroganova: Hymnographic Text in the Structure of the Image

The article is devoted to the examination of the unique iconographic plot «Let us, we who mystically represent the Cherubim» on the shoulder straps of the phelonions created in the workshop of Evdokia Nesterovna Stroganova in 1624 for the Trinity- Sergius and Solovetsky Monasteries, in the aspect of the integrity of the liturgical image. The peculiarity of the embroidered composition depicting cherubims and seraphims as participants in the Great Entrance is the inclusion in the plot of three precedent texts — liturgical hymns («Let us, we who mystically represent the Cherubim», «Now the Powers of Heaven» and «Let All Flesh Be Silent») and selected saints, among which a special place is occupied by the patron saints of Andrew and Dmitry Stroganov — St. Andrew Stratilates and Tsarevich Dmitry Uglichsky. The author examines the artistic context of the emergence of the composition on the donated phelonions, analyzes the semantic connection between the pre-reform version of the Cherubic Hymn on the shoulder- piece borders and the rest of the images in connection with the symbolism of the Great Entrance, highlighting the most important motifs, among which the key ones, in addition to the Eucharistic imagery, are the motifs of donation and «small eschatology». As the analysis showed, the intagrity of the polysemantic image «Let us, we who mystically represent the Cherubim» on the Stroganovs’ phelonions is determined by the interaction of the texts of the chants, the symbolism of the rite of transfer of the Divine Gifts and the commemorative function of the donation.