Arms of st. Teodor
On the occasion of the Feast of Todor's Saturday, in honor of St. Theodore Tiron, we present the heraldic representations of Theodore Tyrone and Theodore Stratilati in the church St Pantelejmon in Nerezi, in the vicinity of Skopje, which was built in 1164. The monastery church was builted by the Byzantine nobleman Alexis Comnène, there is a presentation of six Holy Warriors, all presented with shields. In the naos, on the western wall, on both sides of the entrance, there are frescoes of three Holy Warriors. The ligatures of their names on the frescos did not survive to the present, but with analogies, the identities of the Warriors have been established.2 I performed heraldic analysis, and here are the findings.
On the left side, there are presentations of St. Mercurius, St. Theodor Stratilat and St. Theodor Tyron.
St. Mercurius has small round shield facing toward him, which he holds with his left hand by the straps and the reinforcments on the back. Obviously the front side of the shield is not visible.
St. Theodor Stratilat stands in front of his shield, with its lower edge resting on the ground. He holds it by its straps from behind. The shield is of typical 12 c. long shape, semicircular at the top and with a sharp angle at the bottom. Its height is up to the Warrior’s belly and is visible enough to be blazoned. As with other four shields, the shield has a golden decorative frame, though each has distinctive decorations. The shield is partitioned per cross Vert and Gules. It should be noted that the fields are damasked with floral patterns.
St. Theodor Tyron also stands in front of his shield, which is of the same shape as the previous one. He supports it with his hand at the upper part. The shield has a golden frame, with a golden bar in the upper part. The color of the shield did not survive. On the shield there is a golden demi-centaur. A human face is hidden behind the bar, but the hair, forehead and eyebrows are visible, though showing that it is a human head. There continues a human trunk, which merges into a horse body with clearly visible front legs with hooves. On the field there are several small 8 pointed suns, which indicate that the field is seme of suns Or, or more probably is damasking.
