Quelques notes sur l’iconographie du cycle de la Vita de Saint Gérasime du Jourdain dans la peinture roumain

• Published in: Anastasis (Iaşi) Vol. VI; no. 1; pp. 9 - 44
• Main Author: Constantin I. Ciobanu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: Artes 01.05.2019
• Subjects: frescoes of the 16th century; humor monastery; john moschus; moldavian murals; st. gerasimus; the spiritual meadow; the story of st. gerasimus' lion; the story of st. jerome and the lion; voroneţ monastery
• ISSN: 2392-9472; 2392-9472
• DOI: 10.35218/armca.2019.1.01

St. Gerasimus of the Jordan – founder of the monasteries in Palestine – died on March 5, 475 AD. The Latin and Syrian calendars honor his memory on March 5. In most Greek calendars the saint is mentioned on March 4, but there are certain calendars – related to the status of Studios Monastery – where his commemoration takes place on March 20. This article presents a brief overview of the evolution of St. Gerasimus iconography over the centuries, from the first known image, preserved in the mural painting of St. Anthony's monastery in Novgorod, to the examples of some of the seventeenth-century icons or some illustrated manuscripts from the eighteenth century. A special role is given to the description of the scenes contains The Story of St. Gerasimus' lion preserved in the Moldavian mural paintings of the 16th century. This story is inspired by one of the chapters of John Moschus' The Spiritual Meadow and has many similarities with The Story of St. Jerome and the Lion. The frescoes of the Humor and Voroneţ monasteries have preserved the Slavonic inscriptions, thanks to which we can today reconstruct the contents of the mural cycles dedicated to this story.