Miraculous Images in Spain and Russia. A Comparative Study

Las imagenes milagrosas en España y Rusia. Un estudio comparativo

DENIS FEDOSOV

State Institute for Art Studies-(SIAS), Moscow

yanali2@yandex.ru

MEMORIA

Y

CIVILIZACIÓN

Anuario de Historia 20 (2017): 215-226

ISSN: 1139-0107

ISSN-E: 2254-6367

DOI: 10.15581/001.20.215-226

Miraculous Images in Spain and Russia. A Comparative Study

Las imagenes milagrosas en España y Rusia. Un estudio comparativo

DENIS FEDOSOV

RECIBIDO: JUNIO DE 2017

ACEPTADO: NOVIEMBRE DE 2017

Resumen: Es evidente que España y Rusia son países muy diferentes. Pero si comparamos sus manifestaciones de religiosidad, se puede observar que hay muchas correspondencias entre ambos. Las imágenes milagrosas, en España más frecuentemente esculturas y en Rusia pinturas, eran descubiertas en circunstancias sobrenaturales. La Virgen o los santos se aparecían en persona y daban cuenta de la existencia de alguna imagen escondida en las cercanías. Más tarde, en el lugar de la aparición, se levantaba una iglesia, que se convertía en un lugar de veneración popular y centro de peregrinación. Allí son muchos los ejemplos de rezos y oraciones de los fieles que rogaban por su curación. Las ofrendas espirituales y materiales son también variadas pues los devotos siempre quieren aportar algo al lugar santo. La veneración, que se concentra alrededor de una imagen específica, nos da cuenta también de la existencia de un sincretismo religioso.

Palabras clave: España. Rusia. Imagenes milagrosas. Esculturas y pinturas de la Virgen. Peregrinación. Devoción popular. Sincretismo religioso.

Abstract: It is obvious that Spain and Russia are very different countries. But comparing certain elements of their religious systems, one may observe many correspondences. Miraculous images, in Spain more often statues, in Russia – paintings, are discovered under supernatural circumstances. The Virgin or a saint appears personally and speak about some image that is hidden nearby. Later a church appears, a place of popular worship and a center of pilgrimage. There are many various supplications, first of all prayers for the sick. Material and spiritual offerings are also very different. The faithful always want to bring something back from the shrine. People primarily venerate a particular image. We are encountering the phenomenon of religious syncretism.

Keywords: Spain. Russia. Miraculous images. Sculpture and painting of the Virgin. Pilgrimage. Popular devotion. Religious syncretism.

Spain and Russia do seem and are very different, but when it comes to popular religion, one can find many curious parallels. It is particularly interesting to compare the veneration of sacred works of art, especially images of the Virgin. Let us take just two examples: Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Kazan[1]. First of all, both of them appear under very extraordinary circumstances.

The former may be regarded as the most popular image of St. Mary in Castile. Legend (or, better say, one of its more popular versions) has it that this statue is very old, and was highly venerated in Seville since ancient times. During the Muslim invasion some priests fled north and hid the image not far from the River Guadalupe in a cave, covering its entrance with stones. When the Spanish regained their lands, the Virgin appeared before a certain shepherd, which happened in the late 13th century. He had lost his cow in the mountains, and was looking for it for three days. Finally he saw it lying motionless near a spring, seemingly dead, but having no apparent injuries. The man took out his knife to cut the animal to bring home some meet, but it turned out to be alive. Suddenly the Virgin appeared and told the shepherd who she is, asking not to be afraid. He should take the cow back to the others, and it will give birth to many calves. He must then tell the priests and the rest of the people to come to this place, unearth a statue and build a church for it. St. Mary also predicted a lot of miracles in this place, happening in her honour, foretelling that a large town would rise here.

Nobody believed the man at first, even though he demonstrated a very curious sign on the belly of the cow, having the form of a cross. As he returned to his native Cáceres, telling everyone about the miracle, he learned that his son had died, and prayed to the Virgin of Guadalupe, promising that the youth will serve in her church. The latter was miraculously revived. The statue had later been found and became immensely popular[2].

The icon Our Lady of Kazan came into existence also in a dramatic fashion. It was first recorded in the city of Kazan ―conquered in 1552 by Ivan the Terrible, now the capital of Tatarstan― in 1579, after a great fire had destroyed its larger part. Here the Virgin appeared in a dream to a ten-year-old girl named Matrona. She ordered to unearth the icon in a specific burned out place. This vision was repeated three times. During the last one Our Lady warned that if the girl would not follow her instructions she would fall ill, while the image would appear elsewhere. After that the girl, along with her mother and some other people began looking, and it was Matrona who found the picture. The icon was wrapped in a threadbare piece of cloth, but in excellent condition. This event was described by Father Yermolai of the St. Nicholas’ Church, who later became Patriarch Germogen and was canonized in 1913. He also described the first sixteen miracles connected with this image, the first two involving eye diseases[3].

In both cases the image is miraculously found, preceded by the Virgin herself speaking to a humble Christian. This event begins a series of wonderful incidents, many of which include stories of recovering from various illnesses. Since the faithful truly believe that disease is directly connected with sin, it is through prayer and various pious activities that recovery is made possible. What strikes one is that it is not St. Mary as an «abstract» heavenly being who helps, and who, according to a traditional theological approach, may be reached anywhere and anytime by prayer. It is much more often that a particular image, a material object provides its assistance in many different ways, so we may speak about a number of «Marys», some being more popular than the others. It is highly inconceivable to picture a conversation between a Spanish and a Russian peasant in the Early Modern Period ―bearing in mind the distance and the language barrier―, the first saying that Our Lady of Vladimir helps much more in any kind of trouble than «Nuestra Señora del Pilar». But, on the other hand, we can imagine an argument between a Catalan and a Canary Islands sailor, discussing who is more important, when it comes to crossing a sea or an ocean ―Our Lady of Montserrat or Our Lady of Candelaria―.

Such images are treated with great veneration that can take forms, which may appear quite strange in the eyes of educated theologians. Both in Spain and Russia images of Our Lady and other saints are carried in processions on feast days. They are also used as a sort of magic talismans, which are supposed to help out in case of epidemics or other misfortunes, sometimes being left in the field in order to bring good harvest.

We know that in North-West Russia in villages cows were led underneath the icon of Our Lady of Kazan in order to protect them from disease[4]. In the Iberian Peninsula the practice of «lending» images for various purposes was so widespread that a number of ecclesiastical documents mention it as something unworthy[5]. On other occasions statues or panels were connected with rituals involving water. Blessed water was, of course, used everywhere. Miraculous icons also appeared in connection with the idea of water. One may just mention Nuestra Señora de Aguas Santas (Villaverde del Río) or Mother of God of the Life-Giving Spring, the latter originally appearing in Constantinople, but becoming a popular variant of the iconography of Our Lady in Russia as well. Springs were often regarded as having supernatural origins, their water believed to be medicinal. Thus churches and chapels would be built in such places, with icons and statues inside. In a sense we can say that in the eyes of the faithful both the water and the holy image, in connection with one another, «transferred» a certain divine energy, an idea clearly present in certain rituals.

In Russia the water used for cleaning an icon could be spilled only in the church itself. Water would be poured over certain crosses and then implied as a medicine for curing diseases, be it sprinkling or drinking, just like in the case of the sculpture of the Christ of Burgos, when it was being cleaned. Martín de Azpilcueta (1491-1586) wrote: «it is bad when during certain processions and prayers some people […] carry the image of St. Peter to the river […], immersing it there until it rains […]. Because putting the image under water cannot, either by natural law, or by divine intervention produce such an effect…»[6]. In Russia we may mention another ritual that took place in the Vladimir region: icons were lowered into wells, after which the water was believed to be particularly wholesome.

What is remarkable is that these images are often connected with a certain place. The «Nuestra Señora de...» or «Mother of God of…» include lots of references to names of cities and towns. We again see a sacred «pantheon» of different saintly images. Thus becomes evident a kind of ecclesiastical geography, where some landmarks on the map bear more spiritual meaning than others.

Following this theme, it is interesting to note, that if we speak about apparitions either of saints «in person» or works of art, they really demonstrate a desire not only for their image to remain in a certain area, but to be in the exact spot, where a faithful Christian saw them. Or else they move according to their own will, disregarding the desires of ecclesiastical authorities or other influential individuals to relocate them. We may remember how the Virgin of Guadalupe demanded that a church honouring her should be built on the spot where the statue was hidden. Her prophecy was fulfilled: a large Hieronymite monastery was eventually erected here ―now belonging to the Franciscan Order―. The icon Tikhvin Mother of God travelled quite a lot before it found a suitable place in the Novgorod region. According to tradition ―the first manuscripts dating to the late 15th-early 16th century―, it was flying from one settlement to another, carried by angels. It was seen by a number of people on seven occasions, until it reached the bank of the River Tikhvinka. After this last appearance, in 1383 a wooden church of the Ascension was erected, where the sacred object was housed. Later there were three fires, but the icon, as the story tells, remained undamaged by any of them. In 1507-1515 a stone cathedral was constructed, and the place became a popular destination for various pilgrims[7].

This brings us to another interesting theme. The miraculous image in most cases helps when being visited personally by the faithful. Thousands and thousands of Christians every year walked (or, on rarer occasions, rode) hundreds of kilometres to reach a particular place of worship. In the Christian world as a whole, of course, Jerusalem was the most important place on Earth. If we take Western Europe, then the principal destination would be Rome, followed by Santiago de Compostela.

But there were dozens of other places, both near and far, including Russia and Spain, housing an important shrine. Here as well popular works of art were often demonstrated together with holy relics, «supplementing» each other in their ability to help the faithful.

Often these basic landmarks of holy shrines and relics were not enough. In certain towns one could worship a replica of a holy image, a reproduction of the original. The Mother of God of Kazan, the same as Virgin of Guadalupe, were frequently copied, so sometimes miraculous «new» images emerged. Historians may argue about where the original panel portraying the former is (believed to be stolen and destroyed in the early 20th century), but both images of the Virgin appeared in various places, disregarding the limitations of time and space. The second, for example, became widely popular in Mexico after speaking to an Indian, the first addressed a certain peasant in 1812 near the river Volkhov, the year of Napoleon’s invasion.

Even though miraculous images were responsible for many healings, this was not their only function. They were also believed to bring victory in battle on numerous occasions. Taking the two iconographic types that we mentioned before, it would suffice to recall that the role of Our Lady of Kazan was considered crucial in the fight against Polish-Lithuanian invaders in the early 17th century, while during the historic battle of Lepanto (1571), the ship of Admiral Giovanni Andrea Doria carried a standard depicting the Virgin of Guadalupe[8]. St. Mary was supposed to provide aid on many other occasions, answering prayers that were supposed to cover a very wide range of human desires and expectations.

In a sense we can say that there was a sort of contract between a miraculous image and an individual Christian or a whole community, when in return for divine help some actions were expected. Both Catholic and Orthodox images strike one with the richness of its décor, financed by the pious. Lavish fabrics, gems, silver and gold are in abundance. When in 1904 the panel of Our Lady of Kazan, along with an image of Christ, was stolen from the Bogoroditsky Monastery, the robber was, first of all, interested in their metal covers, decorated with precious materials worth of up to a hundred thousand rubles (an enormous sum at the time), which he later sold. And anyone who saw a popular statue of St. Mary or other saints on the Iberian Peninsula would be struck by the richness of their attire[9]. So much so, that many people found this excessive. For example, the Jesuit Bernardino de Villegas wrote in 1635 about the passion to decorate images:

… and this is usually an abuse most ordinary and widespread in the world, a thing that takes place very often, when images are dressed like ladies, and ladies are dressed like images; but virtuous people usually see here much abuse. So that some […] dress the saints in their chapels with such splendor and magnificence that it is a most indecent thing; so sometimes one has a desire to laugh, seeing the objects they put on saints; and at other times to weep, seeing the indecency with which the saints, women and men, are treated. What can be more indecent than an image of Our Lady in a broad skirt, all dressed up, with a special hairdo, jabot, beads and other such things? And some saintly virgins are dressed so profanely, with such splendor and magnificence which even the richest women do not have. So it happens a man can doubt whether he is adorning St. Lucy or St. Catherine, and turn away in order not to see their profane dress. Because in their attire and adornments they do not look like saints from heaven, but as worldly ladies. And if St. Catherine did not hold a sword, and St. Lucy would not hold her eyes on a plate, taking into account their clothes and fashionable dress, nobody would say that they were saints, nor most honourable virgins, such as they were[10].

Many educated people agreed with the Jesuit, and the church recommended that images should be produced fully and adequately attired, but this did not prevent the faithful from dressing Virgin Mary in real clothes, and the richer the better, sometimes changing them depending on the season or on feast days[11]. Moreover, Spanish ladies would actually «lend» their dresses or other elements of their costume to be worn by images and then get them back, truly believing that they were imbued with positive energy, a kind of grace. In Russia people also dressed venerated statues. One popular example were small figures of St. Parasceva (Friday), an enormously popular saint across Russia, particularly in the countryside among women. Sometimes she was even confused with the Virgin herself. Something like a sarafan ―traditional Russian dress― would be put on the figure. It was made from various fabrics, donated by the faithful. In other cases richly embroidered pieces of cloth would be presented to be placed inside a church, for example, to be hung underneath icons, as altar covers, for vestments, etc.

Just like everywhere in the Christian world the most fitting donations for a popular image were precious metals and stones. Various jewellery, lavish crowns and rosaries decorated Spanish statues. In Russia, where predominantly panels were venerated, they received precious metal covers with particularly finely decorated halos and various pendants. Sometime only the hands and faces of the depicted personages would be left visible.

All these rich gifts were supposed to please the heavenly patrons and win their favour. There was a whole system, «regulating» relations between the faithful and the heavens. The former had a wide choice of demonstrating their respect, depending on their piousness and purse. One of the more simple ways was prayer or some candles. Then there were other activities possible: offering money to a religious institution or giving something in kind. We already mentioned pilgrimage. One could also use his skills: work in some way for a church or monastery, or, in the case of artists, donate a picture or a statue. This list obviously can be continued.

Another way could have been a promise not to work. This meant observing the feast day of a particular saint, attending public prayer, getting involved in some charity: help out a hospital or feed the poor. Feasts were enormously important in both Spain and Russia, involving a special service, accompanied by processions and of course, various celebrations with abundant food and drink. Individual people would demonstrate their particular veneration on a specific day. In Spain of primary significance were various religious confraternities ―often devoted to a Nuestra Señora de …―, great in number and uniting all the spheres of society, depending on their status, profession, object of worship or parish. In Russia the latter was the principal nucleus, around which Christians gathered. On the whole, religious festivities is such a broad topic, that it deserves a separate analysis.

The most important contributions were promises to erect a church or a chapel, which could be made by royal families, the high nobility, church dignitaries or rich merchants. On the other side of the social scale it is easy to imagine a peasant, leaving a small coin, a piece of wool or even a stone near a shrine. The important thing was to have some material contact with the divine.

In this light a particularly interesting phenomenon are votive offerings. These are objects of a widely varying kind that reflect a specific case in which the faithful needed or received divine help. Their symbolism is usually very direct, pointing to the ailing part of the body. They are placed in churches and shrines, as close as possible to the holy image. Here we see legs, arms, hands or eyes, sometimes inscriptions on pieces of paper. Another popular form is that of a heart which appears to have a more complicated meaning. The direct symbolism may be heart trouble, an aspiration for a love affair or marriage, but in a broader sense we may interpret this as an expression of love for the divine patron. There were also images of individual babies, children or adults, referring obviously to a miraculous healing.

These curious objects were made of a variety of materials. Silver was quite widespread, because the people who donated these could not often afford gold. Then all other kinds of metal ―being relatively inexpensive and long-lasting―, as well as cloth, paper, wood, clay and stone. A very popular material was wax, because it was cheap and easy to model.

Votive offerings were more widespread and varied in Spain than in Russia. One could see here, apart from what was mentioned above, such exotic objects as crutches, hernia bandages and even little coffins. Votive pictures ―made of different materials― included various subjects, from which we can understand the essence of the story, such as: a person praying to an image of Our Lady, next to another one lying in bed; a drowning man; Virgin Mary appears before a woman who fell in a well. The aid provided by celestial forces is truly infinite: saving from a rockslide, protecting a ship in a tempest or a soldier in battle, helping someone to escape from a collapsing building, or a man chocking with a fishbone.

The psychological motive behind these offerings had two sides. For example, if you had an eye disease, you could have a pair of embossed eyes on a tin plate hung near a shrine. Or you could do the same thing if your prayer has already been answered. Here the «cause and effect» phenomenon looked really complicated, but it seems the latter case was more frequent. It appears that votive offerings become magical objects, mediators between this world and the other.

The church looked with suspicion at these instances of popular piety, though sometimes votive offerings would become an integral part of the image itself. In the Orthodox tradition there is a striking example of such a wonder working panel in the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos (Greece), copied on many occasions in Russia. The story of its appearance is connected with the Life of St. John of Damascus (third quarter of the 7th century - 749), who was, incidentally, famous for his defense of icons. Legend has it that at a time when John served as an important official of the Caliph, his enemies came up with some slander against him. He was unjustly convicted of treason and punished: his right hand was cut off. Receiving his severed limb after the trial, John retired to his home, put it close to his arm and started praying before an icon of the Mother of God. After some time he fell asleep, and, awakening, discovered that his hand was in its place again. In gratitude for the healing, the saint added to the icon a silver image of his hand. Afterwards it was reproduced in many copies of the panel, which officially received the name Icon of the Three Hands.

What is said above mainly refers to what the faithful were offering to their beloved images, but they also brought something in return. A very interesting topic in this connection are so-called «contact relics». These were as diverse as prayers and offerings. We already wrote about holy water and clothes connected with certain images, but practically anything inside or around the shrine could serve as a sacred object.

One may mention a most simple example: stones and rocks. When the Virgin of Guadalupe was discovered, people passionately carried away boulders that covered the entrance of the cave. As Virgin Mary descended to meet St. Ildephonsus to present him with a chasuble, she stood on a stone which is still venerated in the cathedral of Toledo.

If we move to the other side of Europe we may notice some interesting correspondences. In the area north of the Black Sea (Dneprovski Liman, Ukraine) there existed a highly venerated stone with the footprints of St. Andrew. This apostle was widely believed to be the one who brought the Gospel to the lands that would later become a part of south Russia.

In Novgorod, in the St. Antoniyev Monastery one can still see a stone (sic) on which St. Anthony of Rome arrived to the city. That a stone can be used as a boat does not bother anyone. Here we are dealing with a world of miracles, where the laws of common logic do not apply.

But just like between saints and their images, there is «competition» among relics. On the Volkhov bank, as the rapids begin, there stood a stone cross on a base made of a large rock. According to local legend, «this is the very rock, on which holy monk Anthony arrived, who continued his way to Novgorod walking on the bank»[12].

Concluding our comparison study, where we touched upon a relatively limited number of facts, it is easy to observe that what we are dealing with is religious syncretism. Common features in popular mentality in Spain and Russia may be explained by several factors. In both countries the pagan undercurrent was quite strong, and heathen beliefs merged with Christianity, sometimes changing only little or otherwise still visible in the deep, throughout the centuries when the «official» church dominated. In a sense one may say that Christian saints replaced pagan gods, acquiring some of their qualities. Then, of course, another factor: it is the same religion. With all the differences, which is another theme, Catholic and Orthodox traditions spring from the same source. It should also be noted that we are dealing with universal laws of human psychology, and in this sense all religions may be compared with one another. However, it is still fascinating to find so much in common at the extreme ends of the European world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arias Martínez, Manuel, «Milagro de los santos Cosmé y Damián» in Museo Nacional Colegio de San Gregorio: colección, dir. María Bolaños Atienza, Madrid, Ministerio de Cultura, 2010, p. 134.

Arias Martínez, Manuel, «Religious Sculpture in Golden Age Spain» in The Spanish Golden Age. Painting and Sculpture in the Time of Velázquez, ed. Roberto Contini and María López Fanjul y Díez del Corral, München, Hirmer, 2016, pp. 59-69.

Caro Baroja, Julio, Las formas complejas de vida religiosa (Religión, sociedad y cáracter en la España de los siglos XVI y XVII), Madrid, Círculo de Lectores, 1978.

Christian, William, Local Religion in 16th-Century Spain, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1981.

Fedosov, Denis, Andskiye Strany v Kolonial’nuyu Epokhy. Religioznaya y Khudozhestvennaya Kartina Mira, Moscow, URSS, 2006

Gisbert, Teresa, «The Artistic World of Felipe Guamán Poma», in Guamán Poma de Ayala. The Colonial Art of an Andean Author, ed. Ann Ffoliott, Dalton, Studley Press, pp. 75-91.

Glebova, Angelina, «Chudo o Flore y Lavre», in Vologda Icons of the 14-16th Centuries, ed. Levon Nersesian, Moscow, Severny Palomnik, 2007, pp. 726-729.

Martínez-Burgos García, Palma, Ídolos e imágenes: la controversia del arte religioso en el siglo XVI español, Valladolid, Universidad de Valladolid, 1990.

Panchenko, Alexander, Narodnoye Pravoslaviye, Saint-Petersburg, Aleteya, 1998.

Shalina, Irina, «Bogomater’ Tikhvinskaya, s Zhitiyem Ioakima, Anny y Bogomateri» in Novgorod the Great Icons of 11-early 16th century, ed. Elena Gladysheva, Levon Nersesian, Alexander Preobrazhenski, Moscow, Severny Palomnik, 2008, pp. 395-402.

Smirnova, Engelina, «Smotria na obraz drevnikh zhivopistsov» Tema pochitania icon v iskusstve srednevekovoi Rusi, Moscow, Severny Palomnik, 2007.

Yezhova, Larisa, «Ikona Presviatoi Bogoroditsy Kazanskaya», in Chudotrornye Ikony. Shest’desyat Istseliayushikh Molitv, ed. Nikolai Litvak, Moscow, Logos-Media, 2007, pp. 94-97.

[1] The word used in Greek Orthodox tradition, from which the Russian Orthodox Church originates, is Theotokos, meaning «Mother of God», in Russian Bogomater’.

[2] Christian, 1981, pp. 88-92.

[3] That became her special field of treatment. Yezhova, 2007, pp. 94-95. But there were also ‘professional’ doctor saints, popular in the Christian world. A famous example were the brothers Sts. Cosmas and Damian, who even transplanted organs, one such event shown in a relief at the Valladolid Museum. Arias Martínez, 2010, p 134.

[4] Virgins and Saints had their specialties. For example, in protecting domestic animals. In the West St. Anthony was particularly popular, who was portrayed with a piglet or a wild boar; in the East: Sts. Florus and Laurus, who especially favored horses. These animals were usually depicted on panels. Glebova, 2007, p. 726.

[5] Martínez-Burgos García, 1990, pp. 278-279.

[6] «ser malas algunas procesiones y oraciones que hacen algunos pueblos […] que llevan imagen de san Pedro al río […] por la meter dentro hasta que llueva […]. Porque aquel capuzar la imagen en el agua no puede por virtud natural, ni ordenanza divina obrar tal efecto...». Martín de Azpilcueta. Commento en romance a manera de repetición latina y scholastica de juristas […] en el cual de rayz se trata de la oración, horas canónicas y otros oficios divinos. (Coimbra, 1545): ver Martínez-Burgos García, 1990, p. 223.

[7] Shalina, 2008, p. 395.

[8] It would be senseless to write about Santiago and Spain here. For connection between Russian patriotism and local holy images see (summary in English) Smirnova, 2007, p. 346. The same phenomenon is known in Latin America. See Fedosov, 2006, pp.104-154

[9] The same happened in Latin America. Gisbert, 1992, p. 81.

[10] Caro Baroja, 1978, p. 116.

[11] Arias Martínez, 2016, p. 61.

[12] Panchenko, 1998, p.136.

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