The Protecting Veil, 19th century
Inscription: Inscriptions in Slavonic: At the top of the icon: Покров Пресвятой Богородицы. Feast of the Intercession of the Theotokos.
Scroll of the Virgin: Царю небеснии сыну и боже мой приими всяаго человека призывающаго имя твое и мое на всяком месте… ‘Heavenly King, my son and God, receive every man who calls on your name and mine in every place…’
Scroll of Romanos in bottom register: ‘Дева днесь Пресущественнаго раждает, и земля вертеп Неприступному приносит, Ангели с пастырьми славословят, волсви же со звездою путешествуют, нас бо ради родися Отроча Младо, Превечный Бог.’ ‘The Virgin today gives birth to the One Above all, and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable; angels with shepherd's praise, and Magi journey with the star. For our sake is born the youthful boy, God before the ages.’
Feast Day: 14th October (1st Oct. ‘old style’), the day traditionally regarded by Russians as the first day of
The icon is divided horizontally into two zones. The lower part shows the earthly events and the larger upper part the miraculous heavenly events. Further, the imagery combines historical episodes that took place five hundred years apart. We see at the centre on the lower part Saint Romanos the Melodist holding a scroll on which is written ‘’ 1 In the lower right corner, we see the miraculous appearance of the Mother of God to St Romanos where she grants him the gift of music.
The icon combines two different events – one dating from the 5th and the other from the 10th century – that took place in the (no longer existing) Church of Blachernae in Constantinople and celebrated on the same day in the church calendar.
According to the vision granted only to St Anthony the Holy Fool (died 956) who is seen in the icon seen gesturing, the Mother of God, accompanied by archangels, the twelve apostles, bishops, holy women, monks and martyrs, spreads her veil in protection over the congregation.
Below, centre, are St Romanos the Melodist and his choir attended by the Emperor Leo the Wise (866 -912) together with the Empress and the Patriarch of Constantinople. These figures are historical, dating to the 10th century.