Large Cretan Wooden Icon Fragment of Deesis with Christ Pantocrator and Saint John the Prodromos

CIRCA 1670 A.D.

22 1/2 in. (1.8 kg, 57 cm).

Depicting Christ Pantocrator and Saint John on his side, hand of Mary visible on the left; the Lord of the Universe represented seated upon a cushioned throne, the right hand in blessing gesture, the left hand holding a Gospel decorated with precious stones; wearing a blue chlamys and red sticharion; Saint John in proskynesis in front of Christ, dressed in a brown vestis talaris; the head of both surrounded by a red halo; later wire for hanging to the reverse with an information sheet in German.

Provenance

Ex Hargesheimen Auction House, Dusseldorf, Germany.
Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector.

Literature

Cf. Pyatnitsky, Y., ‘Two signed seventeenth century icons of the Cretan school from the Hermitage Museum’ in Zograf 36(36), January 2012, pp.189-197, fig.1, for a similar Deesis.

Footnotes

The icon represents a middle section from a Deesis of a church iconostasis. Although preserved as a fragment, it is designed in the high style of the late 16th century.

CONDITION

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LOT 0374