Sankt Gerasim the Misunderstood is the patron saint of artists.
Biography[]
Gerasim was a monk who took a vow of silence at age fifteen. When he was seventy years old, he left the monastery where he had spent his life and pilgrimaged across the True Sea. When he returned, the duke who owned the land where the monastery stood ordered Gerasim to tell the court of his journeys. However, Gerasim refused to break his vow of silence. The abbot begged Gerasim to speak, promising that the Saints would forgive him for breaking his vow. Without the duke's favor, the monastery—the monks' home—would be lost.
Gerasim agreed to tell the duke of his journeys, but after fifty years of silence, Gerasim had forgotten how to speak. He had paints and brushes brought to him, and in the duke's grand hall, Gerasim painted a giant mural that depicted his travels to Novyi Zem, Kerch, and the Wandering Isle. The mural also included Gerasim, the abbot, the duke, and the duchess in the last corner.
The duke and duchess disapproved of the way they were depicted in the mural and ordered Gerasim to be executed. Gerasim died without a word, the monks were forced to leave their home, and the monastery was destroyed. Ten years later, an earthquake struck the duke's palace, collapsing the wall bearing Gerasim's mural. The duke, duchess, and their noble guests were killed, but the rest of the palace remained untouched.
Powers and abilities[]
Gerasim's mural was unnaturally fine; he may have been a Grisha Fabrikator. It is said that "the colors glowed as if lit by sunlight, and the clouds seemed to move across the painted sky."[1]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ The Lives of Saints, Sankt Gerasim the Misunderstood