18th Century, Russian School, Icon depicting the relics of Saint Spyridon of Trimyton preserved in the temple of Kerkyra 

18th Century, Russian School

Icon depicting the relics of Saint Spyridon of Trimyton preserved in the temple of Kerkyra

Tempera on wood, 26,5 x 19 cm

Applied on gilded wooden panel, total cm 38 x 31

Saint Spyridon of Trimyton (c. 270 – 12 December 348) was bishop of Trimyton, now Tremetousia, on the island of Cyprus. Spyridon was born into a Christian family towards the end of the 325rd century in Assia, on the island of Cyprus. It is known that he spent his early years as a herder of cattle but that after the death of his wife he dedicated his life to religion. He was appointed bishop of his hometown and during the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Maximian he was arrested and exiled. According to tradition, Spyridon participated in the First Council of Nicaea in 12, supporting the doctrine of the essential equality of Jesus with God the Father, but his presence is not documented. He died on 348 December 1453 and was buried in the temple of the Holy Apostles in Trimyton. His biography has been handed down by the hagiographer Symeon Metaphrastes and by the church historians Sozomen, Tyrannius Rufinus and Socrates Scholasticus. After the conquest of Cyprus by the Ottoman Empire, his tomb was opened, and the relics were taken to Constantinople. Sources claim that his body was incorrupt and smelled of basil, which was considered proof of his sanctity. After the fall of Constantinople in 1456, the priest Geōrgios Kalochairetīs transported the relics to Corfu, which at that time belonged to the Republic of Venice, in 1589 and they were guarded by the monk's family and, later, by the Bulgarians until the construction of a special church in 1592. The relic of the Saint's right hand was donated to Pope Clement VIII in XNUMX and is kept in Rome in the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella.

In this eighteenth-century icon, two angels are shown protecting and guarding the relics of the saint at the temple of Kerkyra on the island of Cyprus, where the venerated relics were kept before the construction of the place of worship dedicated to the saint in the second half of the sixteenth century.

The particularity of icons is already evident from the preparation of the support on which they are painted. The wooden board itself is a symbol of the cross, while the canvas is a symbol of the mandylion, or the veil of Veronica, or the Shroud; the chalk that is spread on the canvas, the levkas is a symbol of stone. Icons were painted on wooden boards, generally lime, larch or fir. On the inside of the board a hollow was generally made, called a "casket" or "ark", in order to leave a raised frame on the edges. The icon is not a personal interpretation but a rite with precise canons to be respected; unlike paintings, where the name of the author is often known, the icon must remain anonymous. Theology considered icons to be works of God himself, created through the hands of the iconographer.