FRESCOES ON WEST PILLARS

According to the canon, west pillars of the church are adorned with the images of the saints. Images of Russian saint princes, the most significant personalities of the Kievan, Vladimir and Muscovy periods of Russian history, are depicted on the south-west pillar. The historical conception that Moscow Princes succeed the Byzantium Emperor to the throne through the Princes of Kyiv and Vladimir is reflected in the painting at the upper tier of the pillar. The eastern side of the pillar presents the Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Prince Vladimir of Kyiv, who baptised Rus; the northern – Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky of Vladimir; the western – Great Prince Alexander Nevsky of Vladimir; the southern – his younger brother and the first Muscovy Prince Daniil.

The bottom tier of the south-west pillar (its east and south sides) bear the images of Martyr Princes Boris and Gleb—the first canonized Russian saints. The western facet of the pillar presents Grand Prince Yury Vsevolodovich of Vladimir; the northern side presents Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich, who became the first patron of the newly come Romanov dynasty, after his canonization in 1606.

The murals of the north-west pillar represent a “religious ancestry” of canonized Church Hierarchs of Moscow, whose images occupy the upper and the bottom tiers. The image of Metropolitan Peter is accommodated on the eastern facet of the pillar, Metropolitan Alexis – on the western, Metropolitan Philip I – on the northern and Metropolitan Jonah – on the southern side of the pillar. The bottom tier contains the images of Church Hierarchs Cyprian, Philip II, Gerontius and Photius on east, west, north and south sides of the pillar correspondingly.