Christopher – a holy martyr who, according to tradition, lived in the 3rd century AD. The saint's hagiography says that he was very handsome, and to avoid temptation he asked God to disfigure his appearance; thus the saint came to be depicted with a 'dog's head'. Images of saints were often painted as icons and frescoes or carved in wooden sculptures. Saint Christopher is no exception.
To this day only one icon of Saint Christopher 'Psoglavets' has been preserved in Cherdyn. The icon is wooden, size H*W*D 71.4*57.4*2.4 cm, painted in oil; it depicts 'the images of the holy martyrs: Flor, Lavr and the great martyr Christopher'. In the right corner of the icon is written: 'Pisal cher: mesha: Spiridon: Golovin July 16, 1888.'
Icon depicting the saints Flor, Lavr and Christopher (Psoglavets)
Inscription on the icon in the lower right corner
It should be noted that officially icons of Christopher 'with a dog's head', together with other 'controversial' iconographic subjects, were banned by the Synod's decree of 1722. The fact that the icon of Saint Christopher was painted in 1888 is surprising, but the true history of its origin, unfortunately, has not come down to us. It is also known from the museum's old archival collections that the icon was brought to Cherdyn in 1973 by Spiridonov from the Ust-Uls tract, located on the right bank of the Vishera River.
In the 18th–19th centuries the main occupations of the local residents of Cherdynsky Uyezd for a long time remained hunting and fishing. Saint Christopher was regarded as the patron of the hunting trade and was called the 'dog god'. The veneration of Christopher had an almost pagan character – before a hunt men would come to the church to ask Christopher for luck, and if the catch was good they would bring offerings to the church.
Besides icons, Saint 'Psoglavets' was also depicted in frescoes; one of them is in the Nikolsky Church in Nyrob. Another fresco showing Christopher was in the Church of the Nativity in the village of Iskor; unfortunately it has not survived to the present day.
Today the icon of Saint Christopher Psoglavets can be seen at the exhibition 'Legends of Great Perm' presented in the Exhibition Hall of the Cherdyn Local History Museum (Cherdyn, 60 Yurganovskaya St.).
