Abel, Judas and Satan. Folklore motifs in Russian icon-painting of the 16th – 17th centuries

Abstract

The author examines an unusual iconographic incident: the Vologda icon of the late 16^th century, in which Abel occupies a place in Hell, on the devil’s lap, traditionally belonging to Judas Iscariot. The author outlines a range of book and folklore texts, which reflect the legend that the traitor apostle is sitting in Hell on Satan’s lap. After that, he analyzes the legend of Abel as the first dead man on earth. This legend is a Christian adaptation of the nomadic motif “a bird teaches people to bury the dead in the ground”, which is widely represented in folklore in Eurasia. Variations of the motif are known in Muslim, Jewish and Christian literature, in Asia Minor, the Caucasus and the Arctic. In Russia, this motif was known thanks to the legend of Abel, which became part of the popular Explanatory Palaea. She said that after the first murder on earth, Abel remained incorruptible. God sent two turtledoves to the ancestors – one of them died, the second buried her in the ground and thus taught Adam and Eve how to deal with the dead. This story spread in the Russian iconography of the 17^th century. As the author suggests, this is exactly what gave rise to the original visual solution on the Vologda icon – its creator knew the legend of the first dead man and deployed its logic to events related to the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior. It was not the main sinner who turned out to be on the devil’s lap, but the one who was the first to die on earth, and whose soul was the first to go to Hell – the prophets lead him out of Hell.