LOT 2068

Icon with Riza of Entrance to Jerusalem

20TH CENTURY A.D.

11 3/4 x 8 7/8 in. (762 grams total including stand, Icon: 30.5 x 22.5 cm).

Painted on a wooden board and covered with a brass riza, with mounting panel to the reverse, depicting the entrance of Christ in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday riding a donkey; crowd within the city wall; followers of Christ in the gateway; Christ with golden nimbus and letters 'ω', 'C' reversed and 'Н'; Greek script title above reciting: 'Η ΒΑΙΦΟΡΟC (Βαϊοφόρος)' (the one who is riding the mule); the background with rocks, tree and the walls of Jerusalem; arabesque decoration to the borders and corners; accompanied by a wooden stand. [No Reserve]

Ex David Miller, Hemel Hempstead, London, UK.
From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.

See Turtsova, N.M., The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Series 'Russian icon. Images and symbols' (in Russian), St. Petersburg, 2014.

The scene represents a well-known part of the Gospels that describe the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. He makes a grand entrance into the city on a donkey to fulfil the prophecy of Zechariah, “Tell the city of Zion, look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The scene is synthetized in the Greek expression ‘Βαϊοφόρος'.