An Icon in Wars

Abstract

The Shipka Monastery preserves an unpublished icon of the Virgin Mary appearing to St. Sergius of Radonezh,which has a long chronicle inscription telling the story of the original icon in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and its participation in a series of wars. The copy in the Shipka Monastery was probably worked in the Lavra after the middle of the 19th century. A number of features of the original icon can be described as rare or unique. The inscriptions with accounts of the icon’s participation in military actions, added gradually on the icon, covering the period from 1585 to 1855, are unique to the Russian tradition.