Creating a new icon is not an easy task. It requires not only knowing iconography, artistic mastery and diligently following the canon, but also a deep religious feeling on the part of the author, their ability to reject their sinful subjective “take on it” for the purpose of creating dogmatic, objective, historically-correct and eternal content.
Canonization of thousands of Russian Martyrs and Confessors of the 20th century has brought about the task of creating numerous icons of these saints. That task is difficult in itself but to add to its complexity there have been differences in which Churches canonized this or that saint. To illustrate this point it can be mentioned that canonization of the Royal Passion-Bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church took place in 2000, while the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia canonized them in 1981, and the Russian Orthodox Catacomb (True) Church canonized them in 1928. Obviously there were some differences in understanding their sainthood and that might be reflected in the icons.
The discussion of the iconography of the Royal Passion-Bearers should also touch upon the definition of who passion-bearers are. The idea of passion-bearing has its root in the New Testament, as in “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:3). Being a good soldier of Jesus Christ means conquering evil with love, not with evil; not fighting back but acting in a Christian-like manner. Passion-bearers usually belong to noble families and they go through martyrdom for their faith and at the hands of their own people, not external enemy. They hold to their faith with piety and true love of God, and they perish because of wrath, greed, cunning, or treachery. They demonstrate with their own example that true Christian “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). For all these reasons passion-bearers are particularly revered in their own lands. Such saints as Russian princes Boris and Gleb (†1015), Prince Igor II of Kiev (†1147) were among the first passion-bearers in the Russian land. Passion-bearers are often depicted with a cross in their hands as a symbol of their martyrdom.
The entire Imperial Family of Russia executed by the Bolsheviks in July 1918 were canonized as passion-bearers. This is reflected in their icons. In them we can see the Romanov family each holding a cross of their own as a symbol of their martyrdom. We usually see them together: Nicholas, Alexandra, their son and heir to the Russian throne Alexei are in the middle; the Royal Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia are around them.
Their attire can be different: from humble military uniforms on Nicholas and Alexei to the full royal costume including the Monomakh’s Cap ornamented with gold, precious stones and fur. We can see such symbols of royal power as a scepter with an orb and cross, as well as rich red ornamented cloaks, sometimes with white spotted ermine neckpiece on Nicholas and Alexandra. The Grand Duchesses might wear white cloaks.
Their attire is not viewed similarly by icon-painters. There has been an argument that Nicholas II did abdicate from the Russian throne and therefore he cannot be depicted with symbols of royal power as he was not technically a Tsar at his martyrdom. While it is true – technically – it goes without saying that Nicholas was murdered by Bolsheviks because he remained a Tsar in their eyes and in the eyes of the Russian people. This heinous act was not just a petty murder of a prominent person. This murder was supposed to produce a mystical effect because the commissars wanted to destroy the monarchy, thus in effect destroying the God-pleasing order in Russia to start building there a satanic dominion instead.
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| Our Lady "Derzhavnaya" icon |
As in any icon it is very important to understand the symbolic meaning of the colors used to create an icon. For the Royal Passion-Bearers it is often red, white, green, and gold. Red being the color of blood stands for their flaming faith, self-sacrifice and Paschal joy at once. The Byzantine tradition attaches red to royalty (think of Byzantine emperors being Porphyrogenitus, or born in the Purple Chamber of the Great Palace of Constantinople). The Our Lady Derzhavnaya (“The Sovereign”), the most favourite monarchist icon, is done in red-purple, for example. White is the color of eternity and the Pre-eternal Power. It is the color of sainthood, piety and purity of souls, of physical virginity. Gold is the color of God’s Grace. Golden are usually halos of the saints. Green is the color of life and restoration of Great Russia for which cause the Royal Passion-Bearers shed their blood.
With a lot of various icons today believers sometimes ask which icons they should choose to revere. Good advice would be to choose such an icon that is close to them. There has been some discussion around icons of separate members of the royal family. It can be argued that while being a step away from the canon requiring the canonized family to be always depicted together (and thus being a patron of a traditional Christian family, as well as the symbol of Great Imperial Russia), it is not a violation of the canon if each member of the family is depicted separately, as each of them represents some particular quality believers would seek: be it religious consolation and protection for nurses (Tsarina Alexandra), protection for Christian children and people with issues of blood (Prince Alexei), protection for Christian girls (Duchesses Romanov), or the royal and pious father figure of Nicholas II.
(Translated from Russian-language sources)
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