Omophorion of Patriarch Nikon from the Novgorod Museum-Reserve: Questions of Origin and Attribution

The article continues a comprehensive study of Patriarch Nikon's inscriptions on "holy things" and is dedicated to the examination of a 17th-century omophorion from the Novgorod Museum-Reserve. In Russian historiography, the origin of the item is associated with the Metropolitan (since 1649) and Patriarch Nikon (in 1652–1666; † 1681). The vestment is examined as a single whole with explanatory inscriptions on it, images of the Moscow Kremlin and the Novgorod Detinets, and the iconography of Novgorod and Moscow saints. An assumption is made that the omophorion was made in the first half of 1652 from Patriarch Nikon's sakkos, which could have been used at ceremonial events marking the glorification of Metropolitan Philip (Kolychev) in Moscow; the iconographic subjects are characterized and their connection with church and state themes is traced. The source of the edifying text embroidered on the omophorion has been established; it is shown that the Novgorod omophorion, in its motifs, corresponds to the ecclesiastical vestments of His Holiness Nikon, which verbally and visually embodied the author's program of glorifying the all-Russian saints and miracle workers as part of Universal Orthodoxy. The article is accompanied by illustrations and a detailed description of the monument.