Question about an old icon

[Arcane]

Hello everybody!

This seems to be the biggest Orthodox Christianity forum on the Internet so I really hope I'll find here some of the answers I'm looking for. My family is Bulgarian and we have an icon that passes from generation to generation. Since the religious tradition was broken after the Septemberist socialist revolution and all religion was forbidden by law by the communist government, the icon was hidden by my grandmother. She had it from her mother who came from the village of Plasnichevo (now renamed Krya Vrysi) after it fell under Greek rule after the Balkan War in 1912. On the back of the icon it's written 1882 but I don't know if this is the year of creation.

What I'd like to know is what the icon symbolizes and who the saints are on the right and on the left.  I wonder why the young boy on the upper right part of the triptych is not depicted as a saint 

All I know is that it meant a lot to my grand-grand mother. The icon is not in very good condition but I hope you'll be able to see well enough the figures.

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4624/pictures002.jpg

Thanks to everybody who might be willing to help 

[Michał Kalina]

The man on the left side (the one with Gospel) could be St. John of Rila because he looks similar. But St. John wasn't a bishop. He can be also St. Hilarion the Bishop of Meglin in Bulgaria

Two people on bottom right corner can be St. Apostles Peter and Paul.

On bottom left corner: St Cyrill and Methodius maybe.

Top right: St. Naum of Preslav

just guessing

welcome to the forum

[witega]

The two on the bottom left are holding crosses indicating they are martyrs. So not Sts. Cyril and Methodius, though I have no idea who they might actually be.

[Arcane]

Thank you both for your help. Thank you, mike for the warm welcome.

That could really be St Ivan Rilski on the right although they usually depict him with a scroll in his hand.
About St Naum - quite a valuable guess. That would explain why his disciple doesn't have a halo.

Still in a stalemate about the two pairs on the bottom. Witega is also right in what he says.

[LBK]

I wonder why the young boy on the upper right part of the triptych is not depicted as a saint 

I need more time to look more closely at the icon as far as the other saints are concerned, but regarding the saint on the upper left-hand side holding the child, this could be St Stylianos of Paphlagonia, who is regarded as a patron of children, and is shown in his icons holding a child or baby in swaddling-clothes. St Stylianos was a monk and hermit, and this fits the appearance of the saint in your icon.

Two people on bottom right corner can be St. Apostles Peter and Paul.

Probably not, as Apostle Paul is always shown with dark or black hair and beard.

I'll post more once I've had the chance to look at the icon more closely. Is there any chance you could photograph each section of the icon (preferably in daylight, as this will be clearer, because using the camera flash puts a glare on the photo) and post the pictures here? That might make it easier to work things out.

There is also a good chance that this icon was originally pained as a "family" icon, where the saints are the patron-saints of individual family members.

[Orthodox Swamp Thing]

I would look into having it restored (if possible) and add it to your icon wall.... That's a very nice Icon....

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