Details

LOT 2168

Greek Triptych Icon with Mother of God and Christ, Saint George and Other Saints

18TH CENTURY A.D.

8 in. (425 grams, 20.5 cm).

Executed in oil and tempera and gold leaf; the central panel with the veiled head of Mary with her head inclined towards the infant Jesus supported by her left hand, wearing a red maphorion mantle with elaborate golden borders, over an off-white robe, with gold cuffs; the infant facing to left, dressed in blue tunic and wrapped in a yellow shawl, right hand extended in blessing gesture, Greek inscriptions ΜΡ ΘΥ (Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ = Mother of God) flanking Mary's head, and 'ΙϹ ΧϹ' (ΙΗϹΟΥϹ ΧΡΙϹΤΟϹ = Jesus Christ) beside the infant; the side panels with icons of Saints Kosmas and Damianos (upper sections) and Saint George killing the dragon and Saint Barbara (lower sections).

Provenance

Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Literature

Cf. Popescu, G.A., Cristiani d'Oriente, spiritualità, arte e potere nell'Europa Post-Bizantina, Milano, 1999, cat.99, for a similar triptych.

Footnotes

Even after the fall of Constantinople, icons painted on wood remained the principal object of devotion for Orthodox Christians wherever the commonwealth of the Eastern Roman Empire left its traces. The painted icons are still used by the Orthodox for personal devotion, for display in churches on feast days, and to decorate the iconostasis (partition) of the church. This icon is a portable one, for domestic or travel prayers.