Image in a fresco

[William Ryan]

This is one of the Blemmyae, the headless race encountered by Alexander 
the Great according to the Alexander Romance of pseudo-Callisthenes and 
derivatives (Aleksandriia in Russian), widely known among the Orthodox 
Slavs and in the west, and often appearing in manuscripts and early 
printed books and maps. Can't check from home but almost certainly 
appears in illustrated manuscripts of the Aleksandriia and the Litsevaia 
letopis'; probably not in icons, but if you saw it in a fresco, quite 
possibly on one of the painted churches or monasteries in Bucovina?

Will Ryan

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