LOT 1894

Western European Framed Devotional St Luke Icon and Reliquary

MID 19TH CENTURY A.D.

13 3/4 x 11 1/4 in. (1.06 kg, 35 x 28.5 cm).

Composed of a chalcographic print representing the Evangelist Luke who, depicted with a brush and easel, is painting a true image of the Virgin and Child, who appear to him in a cloud radiating Divine Light; a winged ox above; inscription 'S. Lucas Evang.' (St Luke the Evangelist) below; the central image enclosed within a lace frame, decorated with embroidery, containing relics of Saints Magnus, Diodorus and Prosperus; all enclosed in a gilded wooden frame. [No Reserve]

Acquired in Germany.
Property of RWM Collection.

See Trassari Filipetto, G., 'Le stampe di traduzione del dipinto San Luca che dipinge la Vergine: osservazioni e spunti di riflessione, in Arte italiana del Novecento : dalla metafisica agli anni Sessanta : atti della giornata di studio in onore di Pia Vivarelli : 19 febbraio 2009, 1 (2015), pp. 155-158.

According to Christian tradition, St Luke made the first pictorial representations of the Mother of God, which were defined as acheiropitae, that is, not created by humans. The presence of the relics of Saint Magnus (saint patron of Anagni, Lazio), of the Roman martyr St Diodorus and of St Prosperus, (patron saint of Reggio Emilia), would suggest an Italic environment as the centre of production of the sacred image.