This reliquary ark was meant to be a case for storing particles of the relics of Theodore Stratelates, a Christian saint who lived in Asia Minor in the 4th century, famous as one of the great martyrs.
The ark is a rectangular box with a cover. Inside the reliquary is a painted red ochre. The side walls of the ark and the background of the image are covered with gold leaves. On the lid is a full-length image of St. Theodore Stratilates. In his right hand he holds a cross, and in his left a spear with a banner attached to the pole. Above the figure the red inscription in Church Slavonic: ‘Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates.’ He is depicted in decorated plate-armour worn over a vest, a cape with a purple tint is draped over his shoulders, and fastened with a brooch on the right. On his legs are red gaiters with a gold ornament, and he’s wearing boots on his feet.
The main colour of Theodore Stratilates’ clothes is golden, with finely drawn details and folds. Shades on clothes are highlighted with colored. On the back wall of the ark there is an inscription: ‘POWER OF THE HOLY MARTYR TEACHER THEODOR STRATILATES GIVEN TO THE TSAR OF ALL RUSSIA MIKHAIL FEODOROVICH FROM THE GREEK LAND IN THE YEAR 1630’ (‘МОЩИ СВЯТОГО СВЯЩЕННОМУЧЕНИКА ФЕОДОРА СТРАТИЛАТА. ПРИНЕСЕНЫ ЦАРЮ МИХАИЛУ ФЕОДОРОВИЧУ ВСЕЯ РОССИИ ИЗ ГРЕЧЕСКИЯ ЗЕМЛИ В ЛЕТО ЗРЛИ (1630) ГОДУ’).
In the 1630s and 40s, relics of saints revered by the Orthodox Church — John Chrysostom, Clement of Ankir Theodore Stratelates, Christopher, Tryphon and James the Persian — were brought to tsar Mikhail Feodorovich from Greece by various people. In 1682, the Moscow Patriarch Joachim sent the relics to Archbishop Athanasius of Kholmogory and Vaga as a blessing to the new eparchy that opened in the North. In 1687, the Archangelsk Prince Kondraty Naryshkin donated money to create six gilded arks for the relics.
In 1693–1695, Kholmogory bishop’s house commissioned wooden cases with images of saints on the lids for silver reliquaries, including the ark for the relics of Theodore Stratilates. Reliquaries were stored in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the village of Kholmogory, which until 1762 was the center of the Kholmogory and Vaga eparchy.
Since 1765, after the bishop’s cathedra was transferred to Arkhangelsk, the relics were kept in the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Silver reliquaries were taken out of their wooden cases and placed in the icon case of the Iveron Virgin. The wooden arks were in the bishop’s sacristy of the cathedral. The relics were saved during a major fire in 1793, which destroyed the entire interior and decoration of the church. The arks from Holy Trinity Cathedral entered the museum in 1926.
