St. Joasaph of Belgorod

Name/Title

St. Joasaph of Belgorod

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.105

Description

Tempera and oil on curved wooden panel bordered in black and floral gold leaf motifs in red, green, blue, white, and purple colors. A Cyrillic caption sits in the bottom center. The gold leaf is repeated in the background of the central image, which shows a man in church robes, rounded crown, and staff. He stands on a circle green rug on tiled floor and wears two pendants: one in a cross shape and one with a red figure.

Type of Painting

Panel

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil, Tempera

Collection

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2005.02

Source or Donor

Betsy Scheuring

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1911

Place

* Untyped Place

Moscow, Russia

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Icon

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Symbol, Religious

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Religious Objects

Nomenclature Class

Ceremonial Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

17-1/2 in

Width

14 in

Depth

1-3/4 in

Exhibition

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

"St. Joasaph was born in the city of Priluki (in modern Ukraine) on September 8, 1705. He became a monk after studying at the Kiev Academy, was promoted through the ranks of the church, and was eventually ordained as Bishop of Belgorod. During his lifetime, St. Joasaph worked hard to restore churches and monasteries and to reimpose order in the monastic community. He was canonized on September 4, 1911. St. Joasaph appears standing in the traditional pose of a bishop, fully clothed in religious dress. He wears a bishop’s mitre, blue dalmatic with rose-colored flowers, and a pink bishop’s stole lined with gold and decorated with crosses and flowers. Religious accessories also include a round panagia necklace and a hanging crucifix, a cross clutched in the right hand, and an umbrella-like pastoral staff in his left. He stands on the traditional circular rug reserved for a bishop’s use during services. Discoloration of the paint under St. Joasaph suggests that other details were perhaps to be added. The floor tiles are rendered in perspective, and the artistic style generally shows western influence."