TRANSFIGURATION

The Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."

5While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7But Jesus came and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid." 8When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead."

10The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"

11Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. 12But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." 13Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

I went back to Voronet and Humor, two of the painted monasteries of Bucovina, this past weekend. Voronet, in particular, but Humor as well, are so striking and particularly meaningful now that I've spent such a long time reading about them and the period in which they were founded. 

Since I wrote my undergrad thesis about the development of the iconography of the transfiguration, I always seek out the Transfiguration icons in churches I visit here. It is always placed on the iconostasis to the front of the church, and I have found that it is often depicted elsewhere in the church, as well.

Voronet, for example, had the Transfiguration painted twice on its walls inside in addition to being placed on the iconostasis. Surprisingly (to me), the Transfiguration painted directly to the right of the southern side exonarthex entrance, was a depiction of the Transfiguration in what I would consider more of an 'old' type. 

As such, the whole scene was depicted in a square 'frame'. The example above is just meant to show the proportions- the later depictions tended to elongate the scene, placing Jesus, Moses and Elijah far above Peter, James, and John, who don't only cower at the foot of the mountains, but are actually flung down the slopes in postures of fear and shock. The icon at Voronet depicts the Transfiguration in a square shape and also depicts, left to right, Peter, John, James (opposite of this icon's depiction). At Voronet, they are depicted sprawling down the mountain, rather than cowering. 

What is interesting, to me, about this depiction being at Voronet is that Romanian monasticism at this period was known for its hesychastic spiritual influences. Hesychasm is (basically) a 14th century Eastern Orthodox spiritual movement, very popular on Mt. Athos, that emphasizes a life of contemplation and prayer and focus on the heart/inward-turned focus. The emergence and popularity of this movement, particularly in monastic settings, tends to correlate with the elongated depictions of the Transfiguration. 

The icon below would be more typical of a 14th century or later depictions of the Transfigurations. (The scenes before and after the Transfiguration that are shown in the center of this icon are seen occasionally in Transfiguration icons). More noteworthy, the apostles are just sprawling down the mountainside, depicted only in the bottom 1/4 or 1/3 of the icon, while Moses and Elijah are present to Jesus in the top of the icon. The heavenly light that Jesus emits in the Transfiguration scene were of great interest to Hesychastic theologians, making the Transfiguration a frequently-referenced passage in hesychastic writings. 

As I said, the Transfiguration was depicted twice in the Voronet church, plus a third time on the iconostasis, and the second wall painting different from the first, which I also found interesting. Most notably, Christ's mandorla was distinctively different in each depiction. In the examples on this page, both mandorlas are blue, round, with expanding circles around them and gold streaks of light shooting out. The lower icon also has the 4 pointed star within the circle. The mandorlas at Voronet greatly differed from one another- one was a ten point, red star while the second one (which was located on the southern apse) had a mandorla similar to these. Given the theological significance of the mandorla (a " field of radiance and splendor that entirely surrounds a holy personage"), it just seems strange to me that two very different depictions would have been painted in such close proximity to one another. 

I wish I could have taken pictures inside the Voronet church. These original 16th century paintings are overwhelming and fascinating.  The intermixing of pure Byzantine iconographic forms with icons of Romanian martyrs, beheaded by Turks or Tartars, is so redolent of Moldavian religious history in general.