LOT 0432

Cretan Wooden Icon of the Raising of Lazarus

16TH CENTURY A.D.

14 1/2 x 17 3/4 in. (2.3 kg, 37 x 45 cm).

Painted on a wooden board with gessoed surface, detailed scene of Christ beside an open tomb and Lazarus arising from his coffin, surrounded by onlookers in a landscape; red legend to upper edge 'HEΓ[EPCIC TOY] ΛAZA[POY]; edges chipped and worn.

Ex Hargesheimer Auctions, Dusseldorf, Germany.
From an important collection of icons.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.
This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.12342-224610.

Cf. Psilakis, N., Byzantine Churches and Monasteries of Crete, Heraklion, 1998; Evans, H.C., The Arts of Byzantium, New York, 2001; for the iconography of the scene see ‘The Raising of Lazarus’, in Monastery of Stavronika, Athos, painted in 1535 or 1546 A.D. by Theophanis the Cretan; as a more ancient prototype, see the same icon in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, inventory no. WA1915.13.

The scene is depicted in traditional composition, Christ standing opposite the figure of Lazarus in his sarcophagus. Three groups of figures bearing witness to the miracle. At Christ's feet are the prostrate figures of Mary and Martha. Behind him are the Apostles, the people of Bethany and Jerusalem, watching while servants are delivering Lazarus from his bands.