Menological Minea Calendar Icon for the Month of October

A minea (calendar) icon for the month of October painted in the style of the famous icon-painting village of Mstera, the first half of the 19th century.

Known as synaxaria (monthly), twelve monthly panels of the Calendar icons are exhibited in the church one at a time on a special lectern called the analogion and depict images of saints arranged chronologically according to their feast days in alteration with the movable liturgical feasts as they distributed in the Orthodox calendar for one specific month. Although most saints are represented standing, martyrs are usually depicted at the moment of their martyrdom. The images are arranged in four rows, each row signifying a calendar week of a month with portraits of saints venerated during this week. The layout and color scheme of this “calendar of sainthood” play a role in their legibility and practical use.