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Saints Boris and Gleb by http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/447c808540e50df303c487bbf1e711b5

http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/447c808540e50df303c487bbf1e711b5 · 1700-01-01

This is Saints Boris and Gleb, a Russian tempera icon from around 1700. It tells a story of radical non-violence from the 11th century, still being painted here 600 years later.

The sons of Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev, Boris and Gleb were in line for power when their older brother Sviatopolk seized the throne after their father's death. Advised to fight back, both brothers refused to shed family blood. They were killed separately in 1015, becoming the first saints canonized by the Rus' church.

Look closely at their faces. The painter gave them nearly identical features, but Boris on the left looks slightly older and more weary. Gleb appears a touch softer, younger. Their halos merge above them into a single golden arch, the icon literally fuses them into one martyrdom, one saintly unit. The swirling background marks a later Baroque influence on Russian icon painting, a stylistic shift after Peter the Great.

They could have raised an army. They chose silence, and became the most beloved saints of medieval Russia.

What would you have done in their place?

Details

But the one on the left is Boris. His face is older, more set.
But the one on the left is Boris. His face is older, more set.
Gleb, on the right, is visibly younger. He followed his brother into death.
Gleb, on the right, is visibly younger. He followed his brother into death.
They were princes. Their older brother wanted the throne.
They were princes. Their older brother wanted the throne.
They refused to raise a hand against him. So he had them killed.
They refused to raise a hand against him. So he had them killed.
The all-over foliate pattern replaces the gold ground of earlier icons, betraying a Baroque influence entering Russian icon production after Peter I , a stylistic fault-line encoded in the background
The all-over foliate pattern replaces the gold ground of earlier icons, betraying a Baroque influence entering Russian icon production after Peter I , a stylistic fault-line encoded in the background
Transcript

They look almost identical. Side by side, like a mirror. But the one on the left is Boris. His face is older, more set. Gleb, on the right, is visibly younger. He followed his brother into death. They were princes. Their older brother wanted the throne. They refused to raise a hand against him. So he had them killed. Their halos merge into a single arch. In memory, they are one saint.