Back in February (22) we spent a little while considering Vasily Polenov's immensely successful first venture into architecture — his design for the Church of the Savior of the Holy Mandylion at the Abramtsevo Artists Colony. Vasily agreed to take on the project provided he was afforded complete independence. He didn't want the land owner, a bishop or architect telling him how to carry out the work. One of the most important aspects of that independence was Vasily's inclusion of collaborative friends sharing their own skills. Ilya Repin (1844-1930) was one of those collaborators.
Repin, like many late 19th century artists, was a man of new ideas and inner directions. While he had strayed far from the Russian Orthodox Church, that doesn't mean he hated the Church, but was simply prepared to go his own way, as artists often do. Still, (a lesson in non-judging) he worked long and hard on a painting titled, The Temptation of Christ in the Desert, claiming he was never satisfied with it. Whether he was speaking tongue in cheek, Leon Tolstoy, who had been excommunicated by the Church, called Repin "a heathen."
But here we see the icon Repin painted for Vasily Polenov's church at Abramtsevo. A heathen!? I don't think so. The ancient apocryphal story says that King Abgar of Edessa lay sick and near death when he sent an emissary to fetch Jesus to cure him. Instead of going to Abgar, Jesus pressed a cloth to his face and sent it back to the king who was blessed and healed by the image that had been imprinted. Ilya has imagined that Holy Face here. A heathen doesn't paint the face of Jesus so tenderly. This icon is up front on the iconostasis of Vasily's church which has the title, Church of the Icon Not Made by Human Hands.
Let's not miss the masterfully carved frame as well. Notice how the columns seem to be woven. The icon appears to be painted on a cloth that is stained and worn. The three initials around the head of Jesus signify, "He who is." You'll remember the conversation Moses had before the Burning Bush on Mount Sinai. May I suggest: contemplation is simply resting in the icon's presence.
Here is my prayer before the Holy Mandylion (the icon not made by human hands). Perhaps you will compose your own.
Before your face, O Jesus —
in my fatigue, my frailty,
my inner frozen place,
my fretting, regrets,
and my delights,
in the holding of my heart-concerns,
distractions and pre-occupations —
your face.
And in the closing of my eyes
for my night-time rest,
and in my final farewell here —
your face.
