Theotokos of Tikhvin
The Theotokos of Tikhvin (Russian: Тихвинская икона Божией Матери) is one of the most celebrated Orthodox Christian icons. It is said to be one of the icons painted by St. Luke the Evangelist. Some art historians prefer a date of about 1300 and a Russian artist, which matches another tradition that the icon miraculously appeared hovering over a lake near Tikhvin, Russia in 1383.
History
According to tradition, in the 5th century, the icon was transferred from Jerusalem to Constantinople, where a church was built specially for it.[1] These are the same traditions as accrue to the Hodegetria icon, suggesting the stories have become conflated; in terms of composition the Tikhvin icon is of the Hodegetria type. Some art historians prefer a date of about 1300, and a Russian artist. This matches a further tradition that the icon miraculously appeared, hovering over a lake, in Russia near Tikhvin in 1383.
Since the 14th century, the icon was held in Tikhvin, where eventually Tikhvin Assumption Monastery was founded to host it. In 1941, during World War II, the town was occupied for a month by German troops, who looted the monastery and took the icon to Pskov, and in 1944 transferred it to Riga. The icon was eventually taken to the United States for safety by the former Latvian Orthodox Church Bishop of Riga, John Garklāvs.[2] Between 1949 and 2004, the icon remained at Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois.
In August 1978, the Theotokos of Tikhvin was brought by Garklāvs, who had become the Orthodox Church in America's Archbishop of Chicago and Minneapolis, to St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in Holdingford, Minnesota for veneration.[3]
It was returned to Tikhvin in 2004 by John's adopted son, Fr. Sergei Garklāvs of Chicago. In return, Bishop of Tikhvin Mstislav gave the cathedral an exact reproduction of the icon, complete with a bejeweled riza, in 2016.[4] The icon is kept at the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery, where it was kept prior to 1941.[5] Most of the icon, except the exposed skin of Jesus and Mary (the two faces and necks, both sets of hands, and the feet of Jesus), is normally covered by a chased frame of precious metals and jewels (riza).
References
- ^ "Тихвинская икона Божией Матери + Православный Церковный календарь" [The Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God + Orthodox Church Calendar]. days.pravoslavie.ru (in Russian).
- ^ Voicehovsky, Yury M. (5 February 2026). "Half a Century on the Livonian Coast". Medium.
- ^ "Wonder Working Icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin Presented at South Elmdale Church", Photos by Diane Konsor, Stearns-Morrison Enterprise, 22 August 1978.
- ^ "Reproduction of Tikhvin Icon enshrined in historic Chicago cathedral". www.oca.org. 13 November 2016.
- ^ История монастыря [History of the Monastery] (in Russian). Tikhvin Assumption Monastery. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 18 November 2012.