Hell icons (russian: Адописная икона, ''adopisnaya ikona'', lit. "Hell-written icon" or "Hell-painted icon") are alleged

icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most c ...

with images of

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

hidden under the primer, the

riza : A riza ( Russian: риза, "vestment," "robe"; Ukrainian: шати, ''shaty'', "vestments") or oklad (оклад, "covered"), sometimes called a "revetment" in English, is a metal cover protecting an icon. It is usually made of gilt or silve ...

or the painted layer. Also, the image of saints could include horns hidden under the paint. The term "Hell-written" first occurs in ''

Prologue A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...

'' (Eastern Orthodox Synaxarium) regarding Sabellianist church banners. ''Full Church Slavonic dictionary'' gives the following commentary: "painted in hell". The term "Hell icons" is mostly used amongst Old Believers. The painting of hell icons, known as ''adopis'' or "hellography" (as opposed to iconography), was also a type of

black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...

medieval Russia Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

. Hell icons were first mentioned in the ''Life of St. Basil'' (the 16th century): Basil threw a rock at the icon of

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

before the eyes of the astonished crowd of

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

s. Then he allegedly showed that the image of the devil was hidden under the paint. Messages about hell icons appeared in newspaper articles and the literature of the 19th century, but such articles reported only the later icons of "cheap and clumsily painting."

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique w ...

, who was interested in Christian iconography, included a reference to hell icons in his story '' The Sealed Angel'' (1872) and in short article "On hell icons" (russian: Об адописных иконах), published in 1873. In the 20th century Russian linguist Nikita Tolstoy doubted the fact of their real existence. This point of view is shared by modern art critics due to lack of material evidence (all such icons, if ever existed, have been lost).

References

Christian mysticism Fictional objects Eastern Orthodox icons {{fictional-stub