Probably, many have heard of the miraculous crying and bleeding icons. There are many legends about their miraculous acquisition and renewal. But there are icons that have very strange properties. Sometimes this is the work of human hands, and sometimes it is very difficult to explain the "anomaly".
Secret hell
In various historical sources, ad-painting icons are mentioned. They began to appear in Russia in the Middle Ages. These icons differed from ordinary ones in that they had two layers. Under the canonical images of Jesus, angels and holy saints, images of the devil, devils and scenes of hell were hidden.
As a rule, icon painters (then they were called bogomazi) first applied a primer to the base, painted pictures of hell, waited for the paint to dry properly, and again primed it. Traditional Christian subjects were applied over it. In some cases, the artist simply painted horns or a tail on one of the Christian characters and put a layer of paint on top of this part, making it invisible to the eyes.
For the first time, such an icon was mentioned in the life of St. Basil the Blessed, which is a literary monument of the 16th century. The following situation is described there. Once at the city gates, the image of the Mother of God was put on public display. Crowds of pilgrims lined up to him. However, Basil the Blessed, going up to the icon, did not begin to offer her prayers, but threw a stone at the icon. When asked why he did this, the holy fool replied that under the top layer of paint there was an image of a devil. Indeed, when the paint was removed, the image of the devil appeared under it …
If someone prayed for such an icon, it turned out that he worships not only Christ, but also the devil. It was believed that such icons are actively used in black magic.
Many mysterious objects can be seen in Domenico Ghirlandaio's painting "Madonna and Saint Giovannino"
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But on whose initiative were such images created? According to one version, Old Believers who refused to accept Peter's reform and sought to undermine the "new" faith associated with the Greek canons could write and distribute them. According to another version, this could be done by admirers of the heresy of the Judaizers. The latter opposed the official religion, believing that iconographic images are, in fact, idols, therefore, their worship is idolatry. And this is contrary to the biblical commandment: do not make yourself an idol. Hell-painting icons, according to the plan of the heretics, were supposed to eradicate the worship of idols.
There was also a third version, according to which magicians, Old Believers and heretics had nothing to do with it. It was all a matter of fraudulent schemes invented by itinerant peddlers, who at that time were called Osen. They also traded in icons. If someone did the work, soon after the seller left, another peddler approached him and offered to check the icon. After the hidden layer with "hellish" drawings was discovered, the buyer, of course, tried to get rid of the "devilish" image, and he again ended up in the hands of the merchants, and, of course, no one returned the money to the sucker.
Saints and UFOs
Enthusiasts pay attention to the fact that on some ancient icons and canvases on religious themes, images are captured that resemble modern descriptions of unidentified flying objects.
So, in the monastery Vysokie Decha-ny in Kosovo you can see the fresco "Crucifixion" of 1350. In the upper right and left corners of the fresco there are strange spherical objects. No balloons existed then.
In the Florentine Palazzo Vecchio there is a painting by the famous 15th century artist Domenico Ghirlandaio "Madonna and Saint Giovannino". Above the shoulder of the Mother of God, an object is visible that resembles an Indian vimaana or flying saucer. A man and a dog sitting at his feet are looking at her attentively.
Hellographic icon. Element
In the Basilica of Notre Dame in the French city of Beaune, there is a tapestry called the Magnificat (from Magnificat anima mea Dominum - a phrase in Latin that opens the Gospel praise of the Virgin Mary). The plot depicts the life of the Virgin, and in the background an object is visible, similar, again, to a "classic" flying saucer …
The National Gallery of London houses the painting "Annunciation with Saint Emidius", painted in 1486 by the Venetian painter Carlo Crivelli. The canvas was intended for the altar of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation in the city of Ascoli Piceno, whose patron saint was considered to be Saint Em go y. From the Holy Spirit in the picture, a ray departs towards the head of the Virgin Mary.
In the Church of San Lorenzo in San Pietro (Italy), there is a painting "The Glorification of the Eucharist" by the artist Bonaven Tours Salimbeni, painted in 1600. There is an object on it, from which the antennas move away, like from a satellite.
The Fiyouilliam Museum in Cambridge displays a 1710 painting by the Dutch painter Arent de Gelder, The Baptism of Christ.
Fragment of a fresco by an unknown artist of the XIV century in the Vysokie Decany monastery. Kosovo
In the picture, a mysterious disc-shaped object hovers in the sky, emitting rays towards John the Baptist and the kneeling Christ.
Perhaps UFOs in the distant past, when people believed in various miracles, were not considered as something out of the ordinary. And the aliens could be mistaken for angels and saints … All this fit perfectly into religious subjects.
Living Our Lady of Guadedupe
A couple of years ago, NASA scientists examined the image of the Mother of God from Guadeloupe, according to numerous evidences, has unusual properties. The icon was recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as not made by hands, the first mention of it dates back to 1649. It is contained in the records of Luis Lasso de la Vega. He claims that the image was painted in 1531. Around the same time, a temple was built in Mexico in honor of Mary of Guadalupe.
At the beginning of the 20th century, they tried to blow up the temple, planting a bomb with a long range. Everything around was destroyed, but the icon remained intact.
This icon is said to be "alive". Its surface is warm, it seems that it pulsates. This became the reason for scientific research.
Experts have found that the temperature of the icon is 36.6 degrees Celsius, that is, corresponds to the normal temperature of the human body. And listening with a stethoscope showed that the pulse actually beats inside the image at a speed of 115 beats per minute. The heart of the fetus in the mother's womb beats with such frequency.
Virgin Mary of Guadalupe
Another mystery I was the composition of the paints with which the icon was painted. It was never identified. Not a single paint of vegetable, mineral or animal origin was found. It seems that the image was not created on Earth at all! This is where, apparently, the legend about his miraculousness.
The researchers paid attention to the details of the image. So, the hands of the Mother of God have a different shade: one of them is lighter than the other. Scientists have suggested that this indicates the unity of the human races. The cross on the neck of the Virgin Mary is not completely canonical: perhaps it is a symbol of the introduction of Christianity into the culture of the Aztec Indians - the indigenous inhabitants of Mexico.
Also, experts conducted an ophthalmological analysis of the eyes of the Virgin. It turned out that the pupils decreased when the light was brought closer to them, and increased when the light was removed. That is, the eyes of the painted Madonna reacted to light in the same way as a living person.
Source: "Secrets of the XX century"