A reader sent me this image of a recent Greek Marian icon of the Glykophilousa (“Sweetly-Loving”) type — along with a question:
He asked not about the type of the icon, but about the inscription found in the border of Mary’s garment, as seen here:
I have to admit it puzzled me at first (it shouldn’t have) — until I realized it is to be read all in a sequence, like this:
ΕΝΙΜΑΤΙCΜѠΔΙΑΧΡΥ
ENIMATISMODIAKHRU
Now as you know, in icon inscriptions Greek words are commonly run together, with no spaces between them. But if we add the appropriate spaces, we get this:
ΕΝ ΙΜΑΤΙCΜѠ ΔΙΑΧΡΥ
EN IMATISMO DIAKHRU
And what is that? Well, it is only a fragment of a longer phrase:
Παρέστη ἡ Βασίλισσα ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, ἐν ἱματισμῷ, διαχρύσω, περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη …
Pareste he Vasilissa ek dexion sou, en himatismo, diakhruso, peribeblemene, pepoikilmene …
It comes from Psalm 44:10 in the Septuagint Greek version (Psalm 45:9 KJV):
“The queen stood at your right in garments woven with gold, in various [colors].”
Now you may recall that we already know that phrase from the common title of a certain form of Deisis image found in Russian iconography:
It depicts Mary standing at the right hand of Jesus, crowned and in royal robes. It is called “Predsta Tsaritsa” — “The Queen did Stand” — and again it comes from Psalm 44:10 — though in Church Slavic here rather than Greek.
Now of course that phrase from the Psalms originally had nothing whatsoever to do with Mary, but Eastern Orthodoxy commonly applies it to her; so when we see “The Queen Stood at Your Right,” we know it is a Marian reference, and we know it signifies Mary standing at the right hand of Jesus.
That is why we find it also as the inscription on the left side of this modern Greek icon type (in very garish neon colors) called
/Panagia Vasilissa — the “All-Holy Queen.” Near as I can find, it seems to have been painted by a woman in Athens, Greece, named Eleni Dadi (Ελένη Ντάση):Παρέστη ἡ βασίλισσα ἐκ δεξιῶν σου ἐν ἱματισμῷ διαχρύσῳ περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη.
Pareste he basilissa ek dexion sou en himatismo diakhruso peribeblemene, pepoikilmene.
“The queen stood at your right in garments woven with gold, in various [colors].”
If we look more closely at the garments of the Panagia Vasilissa, we again see part of Psalm 44 — in this case from 44:14 (45:13 KJV) — written in the golden border just above the fringe:
Πᾶσα ἡ δόξα τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως ἔσωθεν, ἐν κροσσωτοῖς χρυσοῖς περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη.
Pasa he doxa tes thugatros tou basileos esothen, en krossotois khrusois
peribeblemene, pepoikilmene.
… “All the glory of the daughter of the King is within, clothed in golden fringe, in many colors.”
And on the right side of the icon, we find the beginning of Psalm 44:12 (45:11 KJV):
Καὶ ἐπιθυμήσει ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ κάλλους σου, [ὅτι αὐτός ἐστι Κύριός σου] …
Kai epithumesei ho basileus tou kallous sou, [hoti autos esti Kurios sou] …
“And the King has desired your beauty, [for he is your Lord].”
The King is of course Jesus — though when the Old Testament phrase is applied to Jesus and his mother, it sounds rather incestuous. That is one of the hazards of re-applying Old Testament quotes to uses for which they were never intended.