Thank you for the Theophanes icon, which I
had not seen before. Is it in the Kremlin? It looks surprisingly modern for a 14th century
work.
The
Yale article was a little puzzling, because it didn’t reference Isaiah 6, which is a
locus classicus for the six-winged seraph. The Theophanes icon, with its 3-fold AΓΙΟC inserts, clearly takes its inspiration from Isaiah 6.
“Seraphs were in attendance above him; each
had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of
his glory.’”
(Isaiah 6:2-3 NRSV)
‘Covered their feet’ is a Hebrew euphemism meaning ‘covered their genitals’.
Bill R.
