Russian icon of the Old Believers' Workshops, 19th century.
"Guardian Angel with selected saints".
Tempera on panel.
It presents chips in the painting and losses of the pictorial layer in the outer frame.
Measurements: 36 x 28,5 cm.
The icon of interest represents a composition of various saints and martyrs, surrounding the figure of the Guardian Angel. The latter can be recognized by the inscription above his nimbus and by certain iconographic characteristics, such as the white chiton, the wings, the sword and the cross. The icon is made with a palette of saturated colors, and with very concentrated pigments. The typology of the saints, with the blessing with two fingers, in addition to the inscriptions with the specific characteristics, and the name of Jesus Christ as "IC XC", indicates that it is a piece made in the workshops of the ancient believers.
When talking about the iconography of the Guardian Angels, it should be noted that it is a very complex and controversial field of Christian painting. Even today there are debates about whether there is a place in traditional Christian iconography for representations of Guardian Angels, since any figurative representation of these beings contradicts the pre-established dogmas.
In the Roman catacombs there are already images of angels, although without the usual wings. However, in the first Christian monuments there are no images of the Guardian Angel. His iconography, spread in Russia from the XVI-XVII centuries, usually presents a young man dressed in white chiton, sometimes with tunic and himation, or mantle, and his main attributes are a cross and a naked sword, as the symbol of the protection of the throne of God.
Most of the icons that can be found of the Guardian Angels, either representations of the angels alone, or with one or several saints, are modern icons. The controversy about the representation of these celestial beings is deeply philosophical and theosophical. It is because, according to the scriptures, their form and appearance is unknown to mortals. A mortal can see his Guardian Angel, only when his soul is separated from the body, that is to say after death. So, in depicting the Guardian Angels, the painter should have died and then resurrected. In the case that the painter happens to have been resurrected, the form he will give to the Guardian Angel will have nothing to do with his real appearance, since it will only be based on the painter's memory and imagination. Which, consequently, causes other debates. One, regarding the role of the painter of the icons, which a priori should remain unnoticed, that is, should not be given any prominence, since the main protagonist is the saint represented. And another, in relation to the very appearance of the Angel, since he will not have, or will have, a unified appearance for all mortals.
Whatever the answer and one's position on this long-standing iconographic debate, the representations of the Guardian Angels always remind one of the philosophical and logical facet of religion. Moreover, such icons reinforce the Christian religion as a living and open field for diverse iconographic interpretations, in spite of traditional dogmas.