Details

LOT 1980

Russian Orthodox Enamelled Bronze Travel Icon with Scenes of the Life of the Prophet Elijah

19TH CENTURY A.D.

5 5/8 in. (585 grams, 14.3 cm).

With blue champlevé enamel, depicting scenes of the life of Prophet Elijah: on the bottom right Elijah rolling up his mantle and dividing the waters of the Jordan, in front of his disciple Elisha; on the bottom left Elijah watched over by the Angel; on the top right Elijah ascending to heaven on a Chariot of Fire, assisted by the hand of God; on the left Elijah, covered by his mantle, fed by ravens; frame with blue enamel over gilded pseudo-vegetal decorations.

Provenance

Acquired from Chris Martin-Zakheim, Iconastas, 5 Piccadilly Arcade, London SW1.
From the private collection of a West London, UK, gentleman, formed since the early 2000s.

Literature

Cf. Tarasov, O., Icon and devotion, Sacred Spaces in Imperial Russia, London, 2002, pp.157ff., for the study of this iconography.

Footnotes

The icon represents the Ascension of the prophet Elijah and other scenes from his life. Elijah is ascending to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by horses, leaving his mantle to the disciple Elisha, symbolising the transmission of his prophetic mission. Among the great figures of the Bible, the prophet Elijah was one of the most venerated figures in history in Orthodoxy.