About the Icon of St. Sophia in Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral

Abstract

The Novgorod icon of St. Sophia the Wisdom of God is an original iconographic type. The content and theological meaning of this sacred image is still the subject of spirited discussion. The researchers of the cultural heritage of Veliky Novgorod have always been directly or indirectly involved in this discussion. They supplemented the description of the ancient icon with their interpretations of its content, meaning, origin, and its place in the liturgical order. We publish one of the texts of the XIX century related to the theme of the icon of St. Sophia in Novgorod. The author of this brief study (Archbishop Ignatius) and his publisher and commentator (Archimandrite Macarius) are directly connected with Novgorod Theological Seminary and St. Anthony’s monastery. The author and commentator enter into correspondence scientific dialogue. They consider issues related to the icon’s composition, its history, and its place in the temple space. They use the ideas and images of Holy Scripture, theological works, evidence of chronicles and historical documents, and the achievements of historical scientists. Both of them agree that (1) the Novgorod icon of St. Sophia predates the Kiev icon and has Byzantine roots; (2) the referent of the name “Sophia” and, accordingly, the person depicted on the icon is Jesus Christ; (3) the connection of the icon of St. Sophia with the Feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God is due to the idea of the Mother of God as a “house” (or “temple”) of Jesus Christ, which is called the Wisdom of God. Publication of this material allows to clarify the condition of “sophiological” debate in the mid-nineteenth century, to return to scientific field the example of the most reasoned position on the visual-theological aspects of the Holy Wisdom iconography.