Antique Icon of Saint Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow
Antique icon of Saint
Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, painted in the late 17th century. Saint Philip,
in the world Theodore, was a Russian Orthodox monk descended from the
noble family. He was raised to the rank of Metropolitan of Moscow during the
reign of Ivan the Terrible. It is believed that it was the Tsar who had Saint
Philip murdered at the Otroch Assumption Monastery in Tver for his opposition
to royal power. In 1652, at the initiative of Patriarch Nikon, the relics of
Philip were returned to Moscow.