Unique Collection of Icons

A unique collection of icons titled Heavenly Guard of Belarus is displayed in the Christian Social Center. The exhibition presents icons to which our ancestors have turned for more than a hundred years with their most secret thoughts and requests.

On the icons are images of Christ, Virgin Mary, Saint Nicholas and Saint Yury. This is the heavenly army, which the Belarusian people have always relied on. The faces of the saints look out from the moldings (an artistic element of the exterior decoration of a peasant’s house), as if from the windows of Belarusian houses. The slats come from Gomel and the village of Kudrychy, Pinsk district. The last place is only a dozen kilometers from one of the historical centers of activity of the Ursuline nuns in Palesse- the village of Haradzishcha. That is why the placement of moldings in the Christian Social Center, under the care of the Ursuline Sisters, is symbolic. Old chests contain materials on the history of the activities of the Ursuline nuns in Belarusian lands.

The pearl of the collection is a unique temple icon of the 18th century from the Kobrin district, which during the Soviet era was used as a board hammered into the wall of an ordinary house. The icon of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus and John the Baptist, which is a folk copy of Raphael’s famous work Madonna in a Chair, comes from the Dobrush district. Of interest is the image of the three-armed Virgin Mary with Christ (from the village of Halch, Vetka district). The plot of the previous icon of St. Nicholas remained visible on the image. Even now one can see the clothing of the famous bishop. Interesting icons are also the “Neapalimaya Kupina”, Saint Barbara, the prophet Illya, the coronation of the Virgin Mary and many others. It can be argued that insults and moldings are a saved heritage. The works were in a poor condition, but the conservation and restoration made it possible to return and emphasize the beauty of the works of Belarusian art. The exposition is decorated with folk towels that come from different places of Belarus.

We invite everyone to visit the exhibition, where you can hear an interesting story about unique rarities from the leading scientific employee of the Mission, curator of the exhibition Pavel Karalyow. Visitors will be able to join in the creation of a handwritten Bible.

Additional information and registration:

+375 17 343-99-17;      

+375 44 770 09 01 – Reception   

samaranin16@gmail.com

Our address: Christian Social Center (19 Serafimovich St., Minsk)