Saint Sophia Deesis is a cycle of eleven icons painted on fragments of weapon boxes left after the battles near Kyiv in the spring 2022. The cycle is dedicated to the servicemen of the 112th, 114th and 241st brigades of Territorial Defense of Kyiv and Kyiv region who lost their lives during Ukrainian-Russian war. It continues the theme started by Ilovaisk deesis (2017) and Poltava deesis (2021) and is a part of a large-scale plan to commemorate Ukrainians who died during the war. The saints, depicted on the icons, develop the theme of holy warriors-martyrs, which is extremely important for the ensemble of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
Saint George, saint Demetrios of Thessalonica, Saint Menas of Katuan and saint Mercurius of Caesarea are the most esteemed saints of saint Sophia Cathedral. In the cycle they are complemented by two saints of Kyivan Rus – saint prince Borys and saint prince Glib. Such a selection of saints emphasizes sacrificial love and willingness to give one’s life for the sake of others, and concentrate the attention on the knightly and military aspect of the sacrifice.
The inscriptions on the background continue the tradition of graffiti, widely represented in Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv (on the walls of cathedral there are more than 7,000 inscriptions and drawings). The most widespread were two prayer formulas: «God help…» (prayer for the living) and «Pray the God for…» (commemoration of the dead). It is the second formula that is used in the cycle and is present on ten icons out of eleven.
Such an approach turns the attention to the sincerity and spontaneity of the prayer appeal to Christ. The names scratched during a series of artistic performances become the united prayer of all grateful Kyivans and Ukrainians for the fallen heroes, continuing and reviving the thousand-year tradition of gratitude and it`s special language of Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
