ИСТИНА

The scene of The Vision of St. Gregory the Theologian is based on a text of the liturgical commentary. Though not very widespread, the subject occurred rather frequently in monumental painting of Russia in the late 16th–17th centuries, where it was placed in the altar area (Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin; Church of Our Lady of Smolensk of the Novodevichy Convent; Holy Trinity Church in Vyaziomy). Meanwhile on the Balkans, the only example of the scene is known — a series of miniatures (Vat. gr. 2137) made by a Cretan artist. In both cases, rather than depicting the whole commentary in detail, the most important scenes were selected to convey the subject — namely, the activity of the heavenly forces during the earthly liturgy. The scene of The Vision shares certain motives of the other liturgical subjects, such as The Heavenly Liturgy, The Liturgy of St. Basil as well as the variations derived from them — above all, the depiction of the Great Entrance. However, it must be regarded as an independent subject. As we suggest, it appeared for the first time in the Church of the Archangel’s miracle at Chonae in the Chudov monastery in the Moscow Kremlin (1518–1519). Though the frescoes were not preserved, a drawing of the church decoration provides us with evidence of the liturgical subject on the prothesis wall. Another possible source for the iconography of The Vision of St. Gregory is a cycle of miniatures illustrating the Life of St. Niphon (1530s), offering close solutions for the liturgical scenes. In the report, we will examine the two early examples as a probable influence on both the Russian monumental painting and the Cretan miniature.