Christopher was a holy martyr who, according to tradition, lived in the 3rd century AD. The saint's hagiography says he was very handsome, and to avoid temptation he asked God to disfigure his appearance; thus he began to be depicted with a 'dog's head'. Images of saints were often made into icons, frescoes, and wooden sculptures. Saint Christopher was no exception.
To this day in Cherdyn only one icon of Saint Christopher the 'Dog-headed' has been preserved. The icon is wooden, dimensions H*W*D 71.4*57.4*2.4 cm, painted in oil; it depicts the images of the holy martyrs Frol, Lavr and the great-martyr Christopher. In the right corner of the icon is written: 'Painted by the icon-painter Spyridon Golovin, July 16, 1888.'
Icon depicting the saints Frol, Lavr and Christopher (the Dog-headed)
Inscription on the icon in the lower right corner
It is worth noting 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 therefore surprising, but the true history of its origin has, unfortunately, not survived to our times. According to old archival holdings of the museum, 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, for the local inhabitants of Cherdynsky Uyezd, hunting and fishing remained the main occupations for a long time. 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 of the 'Dog-headed' saint, frescoes were also painted; one of them is in the Nikolsky Church in Nyrob. Another fresco depicting Christopher was in the Christ Nativity Church of the village of Iskor; unfortunately it has not survived to the present day.
Today the icon of Saint Christopher the Dog-headed can be seen in the exhibition 'Legends of Great Perm' presented in the Exhibition Hall of the Cherdyn Local History Museum (Cherdyn, 60 Yurganovskaya St.).
