Mother of God from Khodosivka

Abstract

In the course of archaeological research conducted by the Northern Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the NASU at the medieval settlement Khodosivka-Roslavske in the southern Kyiv suburbs, a bronze figure of the Mother of God was found. It was molded as a one-sided form representing an outstanding piece of metal-plastic work of the Kyivan Rus of the 1st half of the XIII century. The item comes from the upper part of the deepened farm building filled with the surrounding layer close to the outside of the settlement. It is not associated with the purpose usage of the object. However, its fixation among the items related to the final stage of the settlement’s lifecycle serves as an additional chronological benchmark of functioning of this historical artefact.The fragment preserving 8.5 cm of its original hight is a part of the item called “the shortest version of the iconostasis”, which is known as the Chersonesus Kiot Cross, having its molded copy from Sudak, as well as the fragmented analogies from the hill-forts near Shepetivka, Pereiaslav, Kniazha Hora and Polotsk. The item was probably molded in the form of the Chersonesus’ find. Its integrity allows us to trace the features that are elusive in other specimens and indicates quite a short time of its existence. According to experts, things are the works of masters from Byzantine who moved to Kyivan Rus after the capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders.Among synchronous antiquities, devoted to the plot of the Crucifixion are the movable crucifix from Vasyliv (with another iconography and fewer images used) and the movable cross from Vladimir-on-Kliazma, which is very close to the previous one. Amazingly similar to the latter is the fragmented find from Kniazha Hora (with a similar figure of the by-standing Mother of the God also from Vladimir). Due to the absence of the handle it was attributed to the lecterns/octal/altar crosses or parts of the repository of the holy gifts and has the analogies in the funds of the State Historical Museum in Moscow and in the private collection of items from the Old Riazan.The characteristics of the items associated with orthodoxy in the unfortified settlements of different regions of Rus in combination with the above described piece convincingly demonstrate the already mentioned non-ordinary nature of the studied settlement and the inexhaustibility of the information capabilities of this category of monuments.