Icon of the Mother of God, probably restored by T. G. Shevchenko

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The altar image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is located in the cemetery of the Iov Church of the village of Sekun,Kovelsky district. This is an icon made by Byzantine masters. The icon was breathed new life into by the genius of Ukraine - Taras Shevchenko. Without a doubt, it is valuable not only for the parishioners of the church, but is an artistic and spiritual heritage of all Volyn residents.

Taras Shevchenko was in Volyn in 1846

Around 1572-1588, thanks to the efforts of Mykhailo Kalymet, a wooden church was built in the village in honor of St. Michael. Later, the ancient church fell into disrepair, and in 1868, Father Ilya Musievich built a new wooden church on a stone foundation, and a chapel was built from the dismantled one in the village cemetery. The icon of the Mother of God was also moved here. In 1932, historian Oleksandr Volynets determined that the image of the Virgin Mary was created by a master of the Byzantine school. And indeed, it corresponds to the traditions of icon painting of this period.

Materials collected by historians and archivists confirm the fact of Taras Shevchenko's stay in Sekuna in October 1846. Then, on behalf of the Kyiv Archaeological Commission, the poet came to Volyn to inspect and paint old Polissya churches. His stay is clearly traced in Verbka, Kovelsky and Sekuna, Starovyzhivsky districts. Perhaps the rector of the temple Ilya Musievich and deacon Grigoriy Antonovich asked Taras Grigorovich to restore the image, which had darkened over time.

Old-timers remembered the “gentleman in the black hat”

“The people’s memory has preserved the memories of the old-timer of Sekun, Mefodiy Ryzhko, who said that his grandfather Ivan told him that Shevchenko came to Sekun and painted an old church, not the current one, built later, but an old one. Taras Hryhorovych not only painted that church, but also restored the icon of the Virgin Mary for it. When the church was dismantled, the image was moved to the cemetery chapel,” says the village head of Sekun, Nadiya Kostyuchyk.

History has preserved evidence that the restorer was “a gentleman in a black cloak and a black hat, who spoke the vernacular.” He added a necklace to the Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, which is not typical for icons, but is characteristic of Ukrainian women. In the lower right and left parts of the image, clear human figures are visible, facing the heavens, where the Almighty is visible on the cloud.

In the book "Description of Church Property", which belongs to the Sekun parish, our famous compatriot from Myzovo, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church Nikanor Abramovich, found notes opposite the entry "Image of the Mother of God behind the throne": "In 1846, this image was restored by the traveling painter Taras Shevchenko."