On the icons of Sinai and Raithou martyrs in Saint Catherine’s monastery at Sinai, with an overview of the cult and iconography of these saints in East Christian art

The first part of the paper discusses the written testimonies about the history of the cult of the holy fathers of Sinai and Raithou at St. Catherine’s monastery and the visual representations of these saints in East Christian art. The Sinai icons in question are then analysed in two ways. First, the choice of figures of the saints in the upper registers of the icons is considered. On the other hand, the iconography of the forty Sinai and Raithou martyrs is studied in greater detail. It is shown that representations of the celebrated holy monks were used to paint their “portraits”.

Two icons depicting the holy fathers of Sinai and Raithou, painted most probably in the early thirteenth century, are kept in Saint Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai (figs. 1-2). 1 They are located in the monastery katholikon, in the parekklesion dedicated to these martyrs of the * A shorter version of the paper was read at the round table ** milos.zivkovic@vi.sanu.ac.rs. 1 Most authors were of the opinion that the icons were created in the early thirteenth century. Cf. Γ. Σωτηρίου, Μ. Σωτηρίου, Εικόνες τής Μονής Σινά I, Αθήνα 1956, πίν. 153-154;II, Αθήνα 1958, 134-135 (late twelfth or early thirteenth century); D. Mouriki, Icons from the 12th to the 15th century, in: Sinai. Treasures of the monastery of Saint Catherine, ed. K. A. Manafis, Athens 1990, 112, figs. 43-44;A. M. Lidov, Vizantiĭskie ikony Sinai͡ a, Moskva 1999, 28, 100, no. 30;Egeria. Monuments of faith in the medieval Mediterranean, ed. M. Kazakou, V. Skoulas, Athens 2008, 241-242, no. 36-37. For their dating to the twelfth century cf. G. R. Parpulov, Mural and icon  The uppermost section of the second icon contains a representation of the Virgin with Christ at the center, which is approached by the archangels Michael and Gabriel; it is flanked by another figure of John Clumacus and that of John of Damascus. As in the first icon, the figures of the monk-martyrs are arranged into four rows of ten hieratic images each (+ Η ΑΓΙΗ ΠΑΤΕΡΕΣ / ΤΗΣ ΡΑΙΘΟΥ).
What attracted our attention to these two wellknown but still insufficiently examined works of art are some of their very interesting iconographic features. Prior to their consideration, however, it seems useful to provide a brief overview of the cult and iconography of the holy fathers of Sinai and Raithou, as these hagiological and arthistorical problems have yet to be adequately elucidated.
The martyrs of Sinai and Raithou. Hagiography, relics, iconography. The story of the slaughter of the Sinai and Raithou martyrs has reached us via two late antique writings. The first is the Report (Διήγησις, Relatio) by the Egyptian monk Ammonius (BHG 1300). 2 The author -who happened to be on a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai at the The other description of this event, Διήγημα (Narrationes) by monk Nilus (BHG 1301-1307), 5 was long -and probably incorrectly -attributed to Nilus of Ancyra ( †430) based on the Byzantine tradition and its stylistic similarities and thematic parallelisms with the works of this Christian author. 6 The work in question is not uniform in genre and combines the traditions of late antique novels, hagiographic texts and descriptions of martyrdoms. 7 The author narrates, at times very vividly and poignantly, the massacre of D. Ward, The mirage of the Saracen. Christians and Nomads in the Sinai peninsula in Late Antiquity, Berkeley 2014, xvi-xvii, 92-110. 5 More recently, the text was published in several editions. Cf. Nilus Ancyranus Narratio, ed. F. Conca, Leipzig 1983;Τὸ Μαρτυρολόγιον τοῦ Σινᾶ, 354-452;Die Erzählung des Pseudo-Neilos -еin spätantiken Märtyrroman, ed. M. Link, München-Leipzig 2005 (including a German translation). For English and Russian translations cf. Caner, History and hagiography 73-135; D. E. Afinogenov, Nila monashchestvui͡ ushchego povest' ob ubienii monakhov na gore Sinaiskoĭ, Vestnik drevneĭ istorii 2/225 (1998) 210-220; 3/226 (1998) [241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251][252]. 6 On Nilus of Ancyra cf. Neilos of Ankyra, in: ODB II, 1450 (B. Baldwin, A. Kazhdan), including a bibliography. 7 On the distinctive characteristics of genre in Ammonius's and Pseudo-Nilus's works, which set them apart from other late antique writings dedicated to martyrs v. M. Detoraki  the Sinai monks by the Saracens, as well as the captivity of his son Theodulos, who was eventually saved. Pseudo-Nilus's work is impossible to date accurately and is generally believed to have been written in the period between the late fourth and the sixth century. 8 Finally, there is the third, much younger and shorter written testimony. It has been preserved in the so-called "Imperial" Menologion for January from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore (No. 521), which was composed in the eleventh century. The note on the slaughter of the Sinai monks in this manuscript (BHG 1307D) is mostly based on the corresponding chapter in  In addition to these hagiographical writings, the cult of the Sinai and Raithou fathers is also evidenced by their relics. There is no doubt that the relics were deposited at the monastery in the early days of the veneration of the martyrs in question. However, we can only speculate if this occurred before or after the writing of Ammonius's and Nilus's works. Be that as it may, the existence of the relics at the Sinai mon-8 V. Christides, Once again the "Narrations" of Nilus Sinaiticus, Byzantion 43 (1973) 39-50;Gatier, Les traditions, 510-521;D. F. Caner, Sinai pilgrimage and ascetic romance: Pseudo-Nilus's "Narrationes" in context, in: Travel, communication and geography in Late Antiquity: sacred and profane, ed. L. Ellis, F. L. Kidner, Ashgate 2004, 135-147;Caner, History and hagiography, 51-63, 73-83;Hainthaler, Christliche Araber, 43-47;Ward,  astery 10 before the tenth century is evidenced by an indirect but very reliable piece of evidence contained in the Synaxarion of Constantinople, dating from the same century, which reserves 14 January for the commemoration of their martyrdom (purportedly under Emperor Diocletian). According to a note in this text, one can conclude that the cult of the Sinai martyrs outgrew local boundaries and made its way to the imperial capital. Since the Synaxarion locates their relics at St. Paul's Church (originally St. Peter and Paul's), in the Orphanotropheion (orphanage) located at the acropolis of Constantinople, scholars believe that the translation of the relics from Sinai to Constantinople was ordered by Emperor Justin II (565-578), the founder of the church in question. 11 10 We must limit our discussion to the veneration of the cult of the saints in question at Sinai since the history of the Raithou monastery remains almost entirely unknown. Our knowledge of this monastic community is limited to a few notable personalities such as Daniel of Raithou, the author of the Vita of St. John Climacus, or Theodore of Raithou, a theologian from the early seventh century. Cf. Raithou, in: ODB III, 1770-1771. 11 Delehaye,Synaxarium,Les traditions,[520][521]Caner,History and hagiography,62 The veneration of the Sinai and Raithou martyrs' cult at St. Catherine's Monastery is even today evidenced by the easternmost lateral chapel located on the south flank of the main church and connected by a door to the central Chapel of the Burning Bush, which is situated behind the altar apse ( fig. 3). 12 This "Chapel of the Holy Fathers" houses an undated marble inscription, which mentions the martyrdom of the "the equal-in-number Holy Fathers" who "lie in this place". Its contents, particularly the number "four (and) ten" (τῆς ͞ δ δεκάδος) which is found at the beginning, have proved difficult to interpret, and scholars have yet to reach a consensus on whether it indicates the number of slain monks (40) or the date of their slaughter (14 January). 13 In addition, several authors are skeptical about the possibility that the inscription was always located at this spot; in other words, they remain unconvinced that the parekklesion was originally intended to serve as a shrine of the martyrs of Sinai and Raithou. Some scholars have even expressed doubts that their relics were ever housed in this lateral chapel. 14 relics and imperial ceremonies at the Great palace of Constantinople, in: Visualisierungen von Herrschaft, ed. F. A. Bauer, Byzas 5 (2006)  However, the research of the cult of the Sinai and Raithou monks at St. Catherine's Monastery has not even come close to exhausting all available textual testimonies. Although admittedly scarce and sometimes unintelligible, they do provide a useful basis for understanding this problem.
First and foremost, the key testimonies are found in the Typikon of the Monastery of St. Catherine which was composed in 1214 by Simeon, the hegoumenos and archbishop of Sinai. The synaxarion part of the Typikon describes services performed on 14 January, the commemoration day of the holy martyrs of Sinai and Raithou. Of utmost importance is the fact that the text clearly connects this liturgical ritual to the Chapel of St. John the Baptist ("the Church of the Prodromos"), which houses the "honorable and holy relics of our holy fathers". 15 Since other sources clearly indicate that it was the chapel south of the altar that was dedicated to St. John the Forerunner, 16 this note in the monastery typikon should be treated as the earliest reliable evidence that the relics of the martyrs of 15 "Γίνεται δὲ καὶ ἡ ἐκτενή ἐν τῇ θήκῃ τῶν λαμπάδον ἐν τῷ ναῷ Προδρόμου, ἐν ᾧ κατάκεινται τὰ τίμια καὶ ἅγια λείπψανα τῶν ἁγίων πατέρον ἡμῶν... " Cf. A. Dmitrievskiĭ, Opisanie liturgicheskikh rukopiseĭ III, Petrograd 1917, 412  Sinai and Raithou were venerated in the very same chapel that is today named after them. The second group of sources includes accounts written by the monastery's visitors. Among the many pilgrims who visited the Sinai monastery in the middle ages, only a few have left references to the relics of the Sinai and Raithou martyrs in their descriptions. As a rule, once in the katholikon, most pious travelers focused their attention on the aforementioned Chapel of the Burning Bush, and from the second half of the twelfth century onwards also on the sarcophagus containing the relics of St. Catherine of Alexandria, which was probably placed in the nave of the main church around that time. 17 As far as we have been able to establish, the relics of the Sinai and Raithou martyrs are first mentioned by a Greek author (the so-called Anonymus Allatii), whose text was probably written between 1250 and 1350. This anonymous writer mentions the "chapels (Пαρακλήσια) of holy abbas which house the relics of those slain at   nai and Raithou" and goes on to count another six chapels in the katholikon without offering any information about their dedications. 18 The Byzantine author seems to be referring to two separate chapels. Unfortunately, the text offers no clues about their location within the main church.
The hypothesis that the monastery used to have two chapels dedicated to the Sinai and Raithou martyrs is also supported by a much younger text, written in 1576. This is a short description included in an account of a pilgrimage to the holy places of the East by Theodosios Zygomalas (1544-1607), the learned protonotarios under Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople (1572-1595), addressed to the distinguished Protestant theologian Stephan Gerlach (1546-1612), another notable writer of travel literature. 19 According to this text, the main church of the monastery was flanked on its 18 PG CXXXIII, col. 984. For an English translation, which we slightly modified in the lines cited in the body text ("abbas" instead of "abbots") v. D. Pringle south side by, among other buildings, a chapel dedicated to the Sinai and Raithou fathers; a chapel dedicated to forty martyrs (probably the Holy Forty of Sebaste); as well as another chapel dedicated to "another forty martyrs, slain for following Jesus by those Arabs who called themselves Blemmyes, and whose relics lie there." 20 This description, however, seems unreliable. Presumably, the author misunderstood the dedications of the chapels he mentions, since it was not "another forty" who were slain by the Blemmyes, but precisely the monks of Raithou, to whom he claims that the first chapel was dedicated together with the martyrs of Sinai. Hence, this source cannot be treated as a trustworthy testimony suggesting that the veneration of the Sinai and Raithou monks was tied to more than one parekklesion in the sixteenth century. In addition, the credibility of this description is further damaged because it seems not to have been based on Zygomalas' personal visit to the monastery, but on an older text used by the author. 21 In accordance with the description from the typikon considered above, all other known sixteenth century sources suggest that it was only the chapel located south of the bema that was dedicated to the veneration of the local martyrs, as is still the case today, i. e. that this chapel housed their relics. For example, Vasily Poznyakov, a Moscow merchant originally from Suzdal, who spent twenty days on Mount Sinai as a member of a delegation sent by Tsar Ivan the Terrible, left an unambiguous testimony: in 1558, at the time of the Russian's visit to the monastery, the relics of the Holy Fathers of Sinai and Raithou were located in the south lateral chapel, which was connected by a door to the Chapel of the Burning Bush. Having described the chapel, he adds: "When you exit this chapel, straight into the wall are inserted the relics of the holy fa- Greek and Russian sixteenth century travel writers regularly mention the relics of these martyrs and note that the chapel was actually dedicated to them, and not, as before, to St. John the Baptist. 23 Besides the aforementioned sources, a chapel dedicated to the Holy Fathers is also mentioned in a text written in verse by Paisios Hagiapostolites, the future Metropolitan of Rhodes (1597-1603), in 1577-1592. Paisios's report is relevant for our topic because it offers the most detailed description of the parekklesion. Like his predeces-22 Three East Slavic pilgrims, 489. For the Russian original of this travel account cf. Khozhdenie kuptsa Vasilii͡ a Poznakova po svi͡ atym mestam Vostoka, ed. Kh. M. Loparev, PPS 18 (1887) 1-63. 23 A text by a sixteenth century Greek author suggests that the main church (the context makes it clear that the author is referring to its southern side) is flanked by the "temple of the abbas slain at Sinai and Raithou", which houses "their relics" which "perform miracles". Cf. Vosem' grecheskikh opisaniĭ, 36 (Greek original), 175 (Russian translation). The same dedication of the lateral chapel "right of the Holy Bush" is described in another Greek proskynetarion from the same century. Cf. ibid., 100 (Greek text), 229 (Russian translation). The chapel is also mentioned in a Russian description dating from the sixteenth century and very recently published by I. V. Fedorova in: "Povest' o svi͡ atoĭ gore Sinaĭskoĭ" -maloizvestnyĭ pami͡ atnik vostochnoslavi͡ anskoĭ palomnicheskoĭ literatury, Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoĭ literatury 62 (2014) 455, 473, n. 18 ("I ottudu ko vratom i͡ uzhnym moshchi svi͡ atykh otet͡ s' v rakakh', izbieniĭ ot nechestivykh aravli͡ ͡ an, vzhigai͡ ut zhe nad nimi tri kandila"). Finally, the existence of a chapel dedicated to the Holy Fathers of Sinai and Raithou at this site was also recorded by Trifon Korobeynikov, a Moscow pilgrim and merchant, in his travel account of 1593. Cf. Khozhdenie Trifona Korobeĭnikova 1593-1594 gg., ed. Kh. M. Loparev, PPS 27 (1889) 63. Korobeynikov's description was taken into account by Μυριανθέως-Κουφοπουλου, Βυζαντινά και μεταβυζαντινά παρεκκλήσια, 81.
On the other hand, the southern chapel appears in Western European sources for the first time in 1732 with the dedication to the "Seventy (sic!) martyrs", and as the chapel of the "Holy Fathers" in a text dating from 1738. Cf. Braun,St. Catherine's monastery,257,317,318. Therefore, a Western source dating from 1498, which still mentions the chapel of St. John the Baptist, cannot be used as an argument to conclude that by that time the dedication had not been changed, as stated in: Μυριανθέως-Κουφοπουλου, Βυζαντινά και μεταβυζαντινά παρεκκλήσια, 80. sors, the author briefly mentions the martyrs' relics, and then provides an extremely valuable piece of information, stating that the chapel houses a marble inscription which, to his understanding, refers to the indiction and the year. 24 It seems feasible to conclude that the inscription in question is the very same one that is still found in the chapel and whose contents, much like many a modern researcher, Paisios was unable to decipher accurately. Hence, his text should be treated as the earliest possible testimony about the existence of this marble slab at the very site where it is still located. In addition, this source offers another fact which is of utmost importance for the problem discussed here. Namely, the author informs the reader that above this inscription stands an "icon with their images, worshipped by the faithful". 25 With understandable caution, the cited lines could perhaps be considered the first mention of the icons that are the subject of our research, as well as evidence which suggests that they were placed above the relics of the saints they depicted. In view of the fact that the Sinai monastery carefully preserved its works of art throughout the centuries, it is highly unlikely that Paisios was describing another icon that might have been lost in the meantime. Of course, this hypothesis stands only if we are correct in our assumption that the author mentions a single icon (and not a pair of icons) because the icons of the Sinai and Raithou fathers were placed side by side as a diptych of sorts.
Of certain significance for the study of the cult of Sinai and Raithou Holy Fathers are also their visual representations. 26 When it comes to the local reflection of their veneration in art, then, in addition to the icons that are the main subject of our study, it is necessary to mention another icon from the treasury of the Monastery of Saint Catherine. In the upper register of the icon in question, also painted in the thirteenth century, there is a composition of the Great Deesis, and in the lower four rows there are standing, frontal figures of saints. 27 On the right side of the second zone from below, opposite the figures of nine famous holy monks (St. John Climacus, Sabbas, Euthymius, Ephraem, Theodore of Stoudius, Pachomius, Arsenius, Paul of Thebes, Anthony), the same number of figures of the fathers od Sinai and Raithou is represented. 24 26 Besides the martyrs of Sinai and Raithou, the author of one of their vitae was also accorded a fitting place in Byzantine iconography. "Nilus of Sinai" and his son Theodulos are celebrated as saints in the Orthodox Church (12 November) and were sometimes depicted in Byzantine art. Cf. е.g. Ντ. Μουρίκη, Οι τοιχογραφίες του παρεκκλησίου της Μονής του Ιωάννου του Θεολόγου στην Πάτμο, ΔXAE 14 (1987Πάτμο, ΔXAE 14 ( -1988 , 194-195, where the icon is dated to the end of the fourteenth or the beginning of the fifteenth century. For the opinion that the icon was created in the thirteenth century, which in our view is more justified, cf. Parpulov, Mural and icon painting at Sinai, 389, no. XIII.67. Apart from the Monastery of Saint Catherine, the veneration of the martyrs of Sinai and Raithou has not left a deep mark in Byzantine art as a whole. When it comes to other East Christian areas, almost all other extant representations of these saints are found in Menologia illustrated in manuscripts and icons, or painted on the walls of churches. 28 The richly illuminated Menologion of Basil II (Vatican. gr. 1613) includes three miniatures depicting the martyrdom of the abbas of Sinai and Raithou. The Holy Fathers of Sinai are featured in this book twice. The first miniature (fol. 315) depicts the slaughter of a group of monks on a rocky background, while another folio (fol. 316) depicts the remaining fallen and the miraculous appearance of fire in the monastery which drove out the Saracens ( fig. 4). The image depicting the beheading of the Raithou monks (fol. 317) features an unusually gruesome detail: the image of a monk with his head split in two ( fig. 5). There is no doubt that the monk in question is Paul, the hegoumenos of Raithou, whose gory death was described by a survivor in Ammonius's text. 29 The slaugh- 28 The "Painter's Manual" by Dionysius of Fourna also recommends depicting the Sinai and Raithou Holy Fathers only in menologia. Cf. P. Hetherington  ter of the Raithou fathers is also depicted in the aforementioned Baltimore menologion (fol. 92v), again featuring with two heads due to the artist's misunderstanding of the image. However, the fact that the illustration in question depicts the beheading of the abbot of Raithou described in Ammonius's text has escaped the attention of the author. Cf. Caner, History and hagiography, 164 ("His holy head was split in half and fell on his shoulders, one part off this side, and one part off that"). The hypothesis that monk Nilus, hidden behind the basilica, witnesses the scene (cf. Patterson Ševčenko, Тhe Walters "Imperial" menologion, 51) is unfounded. There can be no doubt that this figure actually represents the Raithou monk who told the story of the slaughter to Ammonius after having witnessed the slaughter hidden behind some palm fronds. munity, but only their corpses. 39 The Menologion in the refectory of the Great Lavra Monastery on Mount Athos depicts both martyr groups (sixteenth century). 40 Particularly notable among the post-Byzantine examples is the calendar illustration in the Moldavian Sucevița Monastery from the same century. This fresco reveals a tendency to portray the "monastic city", while the monks' torturers have obviously been modernized and are pictured wearing distinctive Turkish turbans. The Oriental ambience is further enhanced by the representation of camels in the foreground of the composition ( fig. 7). 41 Finally, the cult of the martyrs of Sinai and Raithou has also left a mark in the Russian artistic tradition. The dead bodies of the slain ascetics resting against a rock in front of an image of the Sinai monastery are depicted in the Stroganov Artist's Handbook (late sixteenthearly seventeenth century) 42 and on the calendar icon for the month of January at the Church Archaeological Museum of the Moscow Theological Academy (MTA) dating from the same period. 43 54, no. 170, 76, no. 133, 104, no. 84, 138, no. 70, 154, no. 93, 169, no. 72, 185, no. 81, 202, no. 56, 207, no. 3, 222, no. 136, 251, no. 139, 256, no. 53, 271, no. 31, 356, no . An unusual piece of information concerning the relics of the Sinai and Raithou martyrs has been preserved in the Russian tradition. Archive sources from the nineteenth century state that their ashes, together with those of the Nicomedian martyrs, were added to the wax used to coat the wooden icon of Theotokos of Blachernae (of the Hodegetria type), which was sent from Constantinople in 1653 as a gift to Emperor Aleksey Mikhailovich (1629-1676): cf.    New York 2004, 383-384, no. 239 (N. Patterson Ševčenko); Pilgrimage to Sinai,[192][193]no. 39;Holy image,hallowed ground,243,no. 47. 52 There is no doubt that the saint in question is indeed St. Paul of Latros, as suggested by all scholars who have studied this icon (cf. n. 1 supra), although only the name of the saint has been preserved and not his geographic epithet. Unlike all other holy monks named Paul who have been depicted in Byzantine art (Paul the Simple, Paul of Thebes, Paul of Xeropotamou, cf. Tomeković,Les saints ermites,[41][42]52,55,[243][244], the appearance of the holy monk on the Sinai icon completely corresponds to that of the anchorite of Latros. On his iconography cf. infra. True, оne should not forget that the abbot of Raithou was called Paul at the time of his martyrdom. Such an identification, however, is countered by the iconographic factors cited above, as well as the fact that St. Paul is painted on the icon of the martyrs of Sinai, not Raithou. 53  survived. His oldest representations are found on the frescoes painted on the walls of the cave outside the walls of his monastery. The first of these closely resembles the figure on the Sinai icon both formally and iconographically. This depiction is situated in the conch of the altar apse and shows St. Paul as an older man with a high forehead and a white, relatively short beard split into several strands approaching the figure of the Virgin in supplication. Unfortunately the representation of his counterpart on the other side has been destroyed ( fig. 11) Catherine. 63 In view of the fact that St. Catherine's cult was becoming more prominent at the Sinai monastery perhaps precisely at the time of the icon's creation (if it was indeed painted in the early thirteenth century), this piece of information is certainly significant. 64 However, there seem to be other, just as indicative lines in the Vita of St. Paul of Latros that may help us explain his appearance on this icon. Namely, the eighth chapter of his vita mentions a slaughter of monks at Sinai and Raithou. The hagiographer relates that the monks of Sinai and Raithou -as many as three hundred -found refuge in this monastic community after having fled from the Saracens. At the end of his dramatic account about the refugees from the Sinai Peninsula, the author notes that there are reliable written testimonies which confirm the tale. 65 The fact that the vita of the most renowned hermit of Latros preserved a testimony about the persecution of the monks of Sinai and Raithou could -together with his deep veneration for the patron saint of the Sinai monastery -have been a strong enough reason for his appearance on our icon.
And yet, the connection between the two Sinai icons and Latros might not have been merely symbolic and associated with the figure of St. Paul. Namely, the link to this monastic center in Asia Minor is also indicated by certain characteristics of style. Georgios and Maria Sotiriou have argued that the icon depicting the Sinai fathers stylistically resembles the Deesis icon with the four Great Feasts from the Sinai collection. 66 On the other hand, the authors of the first catalogue of the Sinai icon collection have noted that this fragment -which is actually a part of the epistyle later named the "Three master-beam" by Kurt Weitzmann 67closely resembles the wall paintings in the Kelivaron Monastery (present-day Yediler) on Latros, which were initially dated to the first half of the thirteenth century.  stylistic analysis, we would like to mention the recent research conducted by Maria Panagiotidi, which suggests that some masters from Nicaea were indeed responsible for the creation of some of the most representative wall and icon paintings at Sinai in the thirteenth century. 70 Furthermore, are there grounds to consider the possibility that the icon was not originally painted at Sinai but  that it was brought there from Latros? In addition to the aforementioned stylistic characteristics of the icon, some of its other features also seem to suggest this possibility. For example, particularly striking is the artist's familiarity with St. Paul's iconography -the remarkable similarity of his representation on the Sinai icon to that in Latros cave church; in addition, this saint is positioned on the left, hierarchically superior side of the extended Deesis, which is certainly significant. In other words, the reason behind the presence of the Latros hermit could have been the will of the donator and not the veneration of this saint at the Sinai monastery. Of course, we can do no more here than to merely indicate the possibility that the icon of the Holy Fathers of Sinai and Raithou had originated from Latros, to be confirmed or refuted in future studies. the twelfth and thirteenth century, the monastery was still dedicated to the Mother of God. In fact, this representation seems to have corresponded to the same dedication in the case of another attribute of the Virgin: the Burning Bush. As noted by Doula Mouriki, this iconographic type is sometimes included in the illustrations of the biblical episode of the Burning Bush. 72 Hence, one may cautiously assume that -although this epithet does not feature on the icon of the Raithou fathers 73 -this work also depicts a variant of the Virgin of the Bush. 74 The presence of the image of John Climacus on the left is almost self-explanatory, as is his depiction on the first panel. The same goes for the figure of his counterpart, St. John of Damascus, on the right. There can be no doubt that the famous theologian was depicted on the icon as a great venerator of the Mother of God and the author of many hymnographic compositions dedicated to her. Since the twelfth century, John of Damascus was often pictured beside the Dormition of the Virgin as the author of a canon dedicated to this great feast. 75 72 Mouriki,336. 73 A. Lidov's claim (Vizantiĭskie ikony, 100) that such an inscription accompanies the depiction of the Theotokos is inaccurate. 74  Picturing an ideal monastic community: the "portraits" of the martyr monks Finally, we can turn our attention to the depictions of the holy fathers of Sinai and Raithou. One of their most striking features is the fact that none of the monks' figures has an inscription that might help us identify them. This means that the artist did not deem it necessary to use the several names mentioned in the writings of Ammonius and Pseudo-Nilus, as well as in the Baltimore Menologion. Alexei M. Lidov has noticed that all images of the monks on the icons have distinctive, very well executed and convincing portrait features although the painter probably had no model to rely on, i.e. no iconographic template for painting all eighty faces of the Sinai and Raithou fathers. He has concluded that "by the sheer power of his imagination and familiarity with iconography, the artist of Sinai created eighty unique portraits of the holy martyrs". 76 One can fully agree with the cited observation. It will suffice to compare the monks' portraits on the Sinai icons with those in the aforementioned menologia -it is very obvious that the artist took great care to create fully individualized physiognomies and not to repeat any of the eighty faces. While some of the Sinai and Raithou martyrs depicted in the Menologion of Basil II also have individualized physiognomies, there is still a remarkable difference in regard to the results achieved on the Sinai icons. A comparison with other calendar depictions such as the examples from Staro Nagoričino and the Greco-Georgian Menologion, which also show an effort to at least partially individualize their "portraits", will yield a similar conclusion. However, the results in both cases were only slightly better than stereotypical group depictions. Only the convincing and individualized portraits of nine fathers of Sinai and Raithou on the icon of the Great Deesis with saints are to some extent comparable to the images depicted on the two icons that are the main object of our attention.
In comparison with some other interesting group depictions in East Christian iconography, the Sinai icons display a high level of originality in regard to the distinctiveness of the depicted physiognomies. The successful characterization of the martyrs' "portraits" on the Sinai icons is rivaled only by the most accomplished depictions of another group of notable martyrs, which is equal in number to the Sinai and Raithou groups: the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. This is evidenced by their frontal group portrait in the menologion from the University Library of Messina (eleventh century, San Salvatore 27, fol. 190v), 77 a miniature in the Moscow Imperial Menologion for February and March from the same century [State Historical Museum, Vlad. 376 (Syn. gr. 183), fol. 179r), 78 an exceptionally well-executed thirteenth century icon kept at the Svaneti Museum in Mestia (Georgia) 79 and the wellraphy: images of hymnographers in the mural art of in: Ritual and art,[268][269][270][271][272]. 76 Lidov, Vizantiĭskie ikony, 100. 77  known and also artistically accomplished fourteenth century icon from the Dumbarton Oaks collection. 80 In addition to the similarities in number and (to some extent) the persuasiveness of the "portraits", the representations of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste are relevant for the Sinai icons due to another formal reason. Along with the representations of the fathers of Sinai and Raithou on the icon of Great Deesis and saints from the Monastery of Saint Catherine, some representations of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste can help us explain the appearance of frontal martyr portraits. Namely, besides the scene of martyrdom, 81 these saints have been depicted in Byzantine art as a group of frontal, hieratic images. Unfortunately, besides the said miniature from Messina,   117 Although useful, this comparison with the depictions of the Sebaste martyrs is still insufficient to explain the painting process of the Sinai icons. How was the richness of the "portrait" features of the two icons from St. Catherine's Monastery actually achieved? To at least partially answer this question, we must return to Alexei Lidov's remark, who in addition to "imagination" mentions a certain "familiarity with iconography" of the painter. We believe that this remark could be further elaborated. First of all, careful observation of the monks' faces on both icons leads to the conclusion that suitable templates had been used in their designing. Some of them correspond to a great extent (and sometimes fully) to the images of notable holy monks of the Orthodox East, whose "portrait features" were fully formulated and standardized by the time of the icon's creation. 83 Although this cannot be said of all representations, it does apply to a number of images of the monks of Sinai and Raithou. Due to the limited space we have on our disposal, we will focus on a few characteristic examples -the images for which we are almost certain that they were painted after the model of the "portraits" of famous monks venerated in the Orthodox Church. In other words, the images in question are those which resemble the depictions of certain notable monks so heavily that -hypothetically, if they had been preserved individually -researchers would be tempted to identify them as those saints.
For example, one of the depictions on the icon of the Sinai fathers obviously resembles the physiognomy (εἰκονισμóς) 84 of one the pioneers of Palestinian eremitic monasticism -Euthymius the Great. The figure in question is the third on the right in the top row (figs. 1, 14). This notable holy hermit was usually depicted as a balding old man with a very long and pointed beard, which is mentioned in his vita. 85 Good comparative examples which seem to confirm the assumption that in this case the artist used images of Euthymius the Great as his model are found on the walls of the churches of St. Panteleimon in Nerezi (1164) ( fig. 15) and the Holy Anargyroi in Kastoria (late twelfth century). 86 The striking features of the Αφιέρωμα στον Μανόλη Χατζηδάκη II, ed. Ε. Κυπραίου, Ντ. Ζαφειροπούλου, Αθήνα 1992, 704-712, pls. 381, 383. 83 On the shaping of the "portrait" characteristics of holy monks in East Christian art cf. S. Tomeković, Le "portrait" dans l' art byzantin: Exemple d' effigies de moines du Ménologe de Basile II à Dečani, in: Dečani i vizantijska umetnost sredinom XIV veka, ed. V. J. Đurić, Beograd 1989, 121-136; eadem, Les saints ermites, 97 sqq. For a more general survey of saints' "portraits" in Byzantine art cf. H. Maguire, Icons of their bodies. Saints and their images in Byzantium, Princeton 1996;K. Marsengill, Portraits and icons. Between reality and spirituality in Byzantine art, Turnhout 2013. 84 On this term, as the formula for a brief description of physical characteristics in the context of saints' depictions in Byzantium cf. G. Dagron, Holy image and likeness, DOP 45 (1991)  Palestinian hermit were used twice more: slightly altering his portrait features, the artist painted the fourth monk on the left in the second row from the bottom, depicting him with dark hair instead of white; and the second monk on the right in the second row from the top, who has both dark hair and a dark beard.
The "portrait" characteristics of one of the greats of Egyptian ascesis -St. Anthony -also seem to have been considered. 87 His figure with a distinctive kоukoulion on his head and a mid-length beard corresponds to the fourth monk on the left in the same row ( figs. 1, 16).
If we continue the geographic classification of famous hermits whose physiognomies are easily recognized in the group representation of the Sinai monks, the next would be one of the most remarkable figures of the distinctive Syrian ascetic tradition: the authoritative hymnographer and theologian Ephrem the Syrian. His appearance with its characteristic kоukoulion and a very short, sparse beard seems to have been used as the template for the monk depicted second from the left in the third row from the top (figs. 1, 17). 88 While painting the icons of the Sinai and Raithou fathers, the artist tried to include faces of different ages. Besides the seasoned elderly hermits, his depictions include middle-aged men and even a few young beardless ones ( fig. 1) -perhaps relying on hagiographic texts which mention young monks of Sinai and Raithou, separately describing some of their suffering. 89 The figures of these younger martyrs in some cases strongly resemble the physiognomy of a very distinctive Constantinopolitan "Holy Fool" -St. John Kalivitis. 90 Furthermore, it seems that the painter had no qualms about adapting some of the monks' faces to resemble the appearance of notable bishops, as suggested by the fifth figure on the left in the third row of the icon of the Sinai fathers ( fig. 1). This is a monk with an unusually wide forehead and a narrow lower face, as well as very prominent cheekbones. These features closely resemble the well-known representations of St. John 87 On the iconography of Anthony the Great cf. Tomeković,Les saints ermites,[24][25] On the "portrait" characteristics of St. Ephrem the Syrian cf. Gabelić,Lesnovo,[126][127]Z. Gavrilović,St. Ephraim the Syrian's thought and imagery as an inspiration to Byzantine artists, Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies 1/2 (1998) 227-230; Tomeković, Les saints ermites, 40-41; Hetherington, The "Painter's Manual", 60 ("an old man, beardless by nature and with sparse hair"). 89 On the icon of the Holy Fathers of Sinai, a young monk is shown as the first figure on the left in the first row from the top. We cannot discard the possibility that his position was based on Pseudo-Nilus's text, which describes how the Saracens singled out and killed a young boy immediately after two older men (cf. Caner,History and hagiography,[104][105]. On the other hand, Ammonius narrates the story of one of the disciples of monk Adam, of Raithou -a fifteen-year-old boy by the name of Sergios; the barbarians had wanted to take him as a prisoner, but wanting to die with the rest of the monks, the boy grabbed a sword from one of the barbarians and hit him and was slain immediately thereafter (cf. ibid., 165). 90  with a typically ascetic physiognomy and could therefore be used as a template for the "portrait" of one of the martyred monks of Sinai. 92 The artist used another characteristic ascetic attribute -short, unruly, disheveled hair -on his depiction of the fourth (young) monk on the right in the third row from the top of the icon of the Sinai fathers (figs. 1, 10b), while the third monk on the left in the bottom row of the icon of the Raithou martyrs has a similar hairstyle (figs. 2, 18). In East Christian iconography, some atypical anchorites such as Nikon the "Metanoeite" were depicted in this manner in Greek churches, particularly in the Peloponnesus, 93 and in several Russian monuments. 94 The same distinctive hairstyle is sometimes -albeit rare-92 For the same reason the image of John Chrysostom was used as the model for the early depictions of St. Francis of Assisi (cf. A. Derbes,A. Neff,Italy,the mendicant orders,and the Byzantine sphere,in: Byzantium. Faith and power,[452][453] (1298). 101 If we -in contrast with the previous hypothesis about Latros as the icon's place of origin -allow for the possibility that the icon of the Sinai holy fathers was made at the Sinai monastery, then we could also assume that the artist's decision to portray two Easterners could have been inspired by the presence of Syrian or Arab monks at the monastery. 102 Of course, we can do no more today than speculate about this issue.
The possibility of "reconstructing" the process of the iconographic shaping of this extraordinary gallery of faces depicted on the icon of the Sinai fathers is not exhausted with the consideration of the aforementioned 100   templates. However, the remaining observations may seem too speculative and not entirely founded. Be that as it may, we will briefly discuss the sixth figure on the left in the top row and its most distinctive facial characteristic: the unusual beard parted into two strands (figs. 1, 16). Although in this case there are no notable monks whose standardized appearances we could rely on, it should be noted that details often vary in the depictions of some ascetics. For instance, St. Theodosios the Great (the Cenobiarch) was pictured with such a beard in Gračanica and Dečani. 103 At first glance, the icon depicting the martyrs of Raithou seems to have preserved more original faces. Particularly noteworthy are the two elderly monks with very unusual curly hair in the bottom row, the first with a short beard and the second with a very long white beard (figs. 2, 18). Although we cannot speak of a direct interdependence between them, it should be noted that the hair of the former has been painted similarly to the way that it was depicted in the representations of a rarely depicted anchorite -St. Moses the Black (the Ethiopian). His standing figure in the basilica of St. Nicholas in Manastir (1270/1271) is particularly noteworthy. 104 Furthermore, it is evident that two figures on the icon of the Raithou fathers (the first on the left in the second row from the top and the second on the right in the same row, fig. 2) have physiognomies that differ only slightly from that of John Climacus in the upper register.
Another image suggests that the artist used existing physiognomies of saints as templates for his rich portrait gallery of the monks of Raithou. Painting the fifth figure on the left in the top row, below the depiction of the Virgin (figs. 2, 10c, 13), we believe that he used a representation of St. Sabbas the Sanctified, the founder of the famous Lavra Monastery near Jerusalem. Since the Komnenian period, this notable hermit was depicted as a bald old man with a wide, trimmed beard resembling a broom. 105 On this occasion, it will suffice to point out his depictions from Lagoudera, Studenica ( fig. 21) and Žiča, 106 as well as two icons from the same Sinai monastery -an unpublished one 107 and another recently published icon (twefth century), which depicts Sabbas of Jerusalem with St. Nicholas, St. Catherine and St. Irene. 108 Based on the above, it seems that the process of the iconographic shaping of a quite large group of slain monks has been at least partially elucidated. In a number of cases, the artist seems to have used images of saints whose names and representations in works of art were well known in monastic circles. However, this does not mean that the conclusion about the painter's originality is to be relativized or even altered. Despite his use of templates, the richness and appeal of his physiognomies is truly impressive, even more so because he used a relatively small format. 109 We are more inclined to attribute his need to use the physiognomies of famous Orthodox hermits to their wide recognition and extraordinary expressive power. In other words, their distinctive faces simply could not remain unused in the artistic picturing of an "ideal monastic community" on the icons of the martyrs whose cult shone out from the Monastery of Saint Catherine.