Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9, KJV)
We begin our Lenten series on artworks from Ukraine illustrating key moments in the Passion of Christ with an icon by Kateryna Kuziv from Lviv depicting an event we call Christ's "Triumphal Entry" into Jerusalem--an ironic reference to "triumphs" the Romans organized for their war heroes, where laurel-crowned military commanders in four-horse chariots paraded through the city with troops, captives, and war trophies. In the Gospel narrative, Christ comes to Jerusalem to inaugurate his kingdom,"not by might, nor by power, but by [his] spirit (Zechariah 4:6 (KJV)," riding a common beast of burden in a show of humility. Kuziv depicts a Byzantine-styled Christ astride a donkey in robes of blue and red, symbolizing his divinity and humanity, against a minimalist background where heaven touches earth in a broad-brushed stripe of blue above a monochrome paint-blotted landscape. The Triumphal Entry icon from Kuziv can be found in the gallery of the New Iconography of Lviv page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. Prayer for the Peace of Ukraine! (John Kohan)