39. Great Martyr Demetrius with vita

Details

Russian, first half 18th century
71.5 x 70.5 cms

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany.

Description:
Demetrius of Thessaloniki, a warrior saint and martyr, is portrayed in full-length in the centre of the icon.

Around him we see twelve episodes of his life. Upper left Demetrius sits on horseback and is piercing a pagan king with his lance, saving the city of Thessaloniki. As a commander-in-chief of the army one of the duties of Demetrius, who was secretly a Christian, was to persecute Christians. Instead of persecuting, he was teaching the Christian Faith openly to the inhabitants. When Emperor Maximian discovered this, he ordered to throw Demetrius into prison (2nd tier, left). On the 3rd tier, on the right we see Demetrius in prison, while he was attacked by a devil disguised as a scorpion. He killed the scorpion and an angel of the Lord appeared. Lower left Demetrius is blessing Nestor, a young Christian. The emperor amused himself by games in the circus. He challenged Christians to wrestle with a giant gladiator named Lyaeos. Nestor had to wrestle with Lyaeos and asked Demetrius for his blessing. Then Nestor defeated the giant, who died. The enraged emperor ordered to execute Nestor and to kill Demetrius in prison. Demetrius’ death we see in the 4th tier, 3rd scene: soldiers are killing him with lances. Christians buried the body of the great martyr secretly.

The Orthodox Church commemorates Demetrius on October 26.