Null Russian school, workshops of the Old Believers, Moscow, 19th c.

"Venerabl…

Description

Russian school, workshops of the Old Believers, Moscow, 19th c. "Venerable Saints Basil and Prokopiy, his disciple with 12 hagiographic scenes". Tempera, gold leaf on panel. Measurements: 44,5 x 40 cm. Saint Basil (not to be confused with Basil the Great), who is to the left of the central register of the icon, lived during the reign of Leo the Iconoclast. Leaving the world with its temptations, he entered a monastery and led a virtuous monastic life. When there was persecution against the veneration of sacred icons, St. Basil bravely resisted the iconoclasts. For this he was imprisoned and subjected to many tortures, but in spite of this Basil rejected the heretical teaching of the iconoclasts and, together with St. Procopius, who stands to our right, defended the truth to the shedding of blood. Like the monk Prokopius, St. Basil, he was scourged all over his body; then he was imprisoned in the prison, where he languished for a long time, until the death of the pious King Leo. On the death of the torturer, the monk Basil was released together with St. Prokopius and other confessors and lived as before in works of fasting, converting many to the orthodox faith and leading them to a virtuous life. After several years of pious life, he was granted a blessed rest and with prayer, thanksgiving and unspeakable joy he went to the Lord, whom he had loved since his early childhood. The present icon has a series of twelve images, which relate the life of St. Basil from his birth to his death. Hagiographic icons are a typology of Orthodox iconography, and should be read as if they were a book, starting from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. All the images are accompanied by inscriptions on the outer border of the icon, explaining what is happening in each image. Together with the two-fingered blessing, which some saints have, and the name of Jesus Christ as "IC XC", it indicates that this is an icon made in the workshops of the Old Believers.

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Russian school, workshops of the Old Believers, Moscow, 19th c. "Venerable Saints Basil and Prokopiy, his disciple with 12 hagiographic scenes". Tempera, gold leaf on panel. Measurements: 44,5 x 40 cm. Saint Basil (not to be confused with Basil the Great), who is to the left of the central register of the icon, lived during the reign of Leo the Iconoclast. Leaving the world with its temptations, he entered a monastery and led a virtuous monastic life. When there was persecution against the veneration of sacred icons, St. Basil bravely resisted the iconoclasts. For this he was imprisoned and subjected to many tortures, but in spite of this Basil rejected the heretical teaching of the iconoclasts and, together with St. Procopius, who stands to our right, defended the truth to the shedding of blood. Like the monk Prokopius, St. Basil, he was scourged all over his body; then he was imprisoned in the prison, where he languished for a long time, until the death of the pious King Leo. On the death of the torturer, the monk Basil was released together with St. Prokopius and other confessors and lived as before in works of fasting, converting many to the orthodox faith and leading them to a virtuous life. After several years of pious life, he was granted a blessed rest and with prayer, thanksgiving and unspeakable joy he went to the Lord, whom he had loved since his early childhood. The present icon has a series of twelve images, which relate the life of St. Basil from his birth to his death. Hagiographic icons are a typology of Orthodox iconography, and should be read as if they were a book, starting from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. All the images are accompanied by inscriptions on the outer border of the icon, explaining what is happening in each image. Together with the two-fingered blessing, which some saints have, and the name of Jesus Christ as "IC XC", it indicates that this is an icon made in the workshops of the Old Believers.

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Starting price 60 EUR

Russian school, 20th century. "Fable". Etching on paper. Reproduction of an 1874 Russian Folk Art lithograph. The original piece is in the Museum of History in Moscow. Measurements: 34 x 44 cm. total.

Estim. 3 000 - 4 000 EUR

Russian icon from the Old Believers' Workshop, 19th century.. "Resurrection of Christ, descent into hell and his life in 16 hagiographic scenes". Tempera on panel. Measurements: 43 x 36 cm. Christ's descent into hell is one of the most important representations in Christian iconography. This passage was known in Ancient Rus since the 11th century, although it gained maximum popularity in the second half of the 14th century. Iconography of this New Testament passage finally developed in the 17th century in Moscow workshops. In this period, the icon reached its maximum complexity, combining the passages of the New and Old Testament, and in turn, composing in one the scenes of the resurrection and the descent of Christ to hell. The icon of interest, attracts the viewer's attention in a spiral, concentrating maximum attention on the central register, where, through a complex and dynamic composition, the resurrection and the descent into hell are narrated simultaneously. In both cases the figure of Christ with golden mandorla, is surrounded by various saints, apostles, and Old Testament characters such as Adam, who is recognized as a bearded man holding the hand of Christ. In turn, this scene is surrounded by a frame of 16 hagiographic scenes, which tell different passages of the New Testament, mostly of Marian content, although there are some scenes that tell the life of Christ. Each scene is accompanied by an inscription located on the border of the icon, where in turn, in the corners of it, are the four evangelists. The visual characteristics of the icon, help to deduce its chronological period, as the end of the XVII century. At the same time it contains several features typical of medieval Russian iconography, which, in sum, may indicate that this icon belongs to the workshops of the Old Believers. Among them, the eight-pointed crosses, the blessing with two fingers, and, most importantly, the inscriptions on the border. The Old Believers were a group of the Orthodox, who after Nikon's church reforms of 1654, decided to follow their opponent Avvakum, defending the traditional foundations of the Orthodox Church. Fleeing persecution, they settled in the villages of Pomorie, near the Urals and in Siberia, although by the 18th century they began to settle in the northern areas near Moscow. The Faith of the Old Believers was legalized in 1905 only, boosting the interest within the Russian Empire for the discovery of the national religious heritage, as well as developing the collecting of ancient icons, never experienced until then.

Estim. 1 800 - 2 000 EUR

Russian icon, probably Moscow or northern schools, second half of the 19th century. "The Protection of the Mother of God" or "The Virgin of Pokrov". Tempera, gold leaf on board. It presents restorations. Measurements: 35 x 30 cm. "The Virgin of Pokrov" is one of the iconographies of the Russian Orthodox Church, although it describes events that took place in Constantinople around 910. A priori the story was taken from the biography of Andrew of Constantinople, who together with his disciple Epiphanius, saw the Mother of God flying over the Church of St. Mary of the Blanquernas, covering the believers with her omophorion, as a symbol of protection. On several occasions the story was modified, the last being the version of Bishop Demetrius of Rostov, composed towards the end of the XVII century, and which said that among those who saw the miracle were John the Baptist, John the Apostle, Andrew of Constantinople, and King Leo the Wise. The significance of this miracle is that the Mother of God protected the city of Constantinople against the Muslim invasion. The prototype of the icon of the protection of the Mother of God, or, in Russian, of Pokrov, develops around the 14th century, although it will have more repercussion in the following centuries. There are two main typologies of the representation of this scene. One, the oldest, belongs to the Novgorod school. The other, the one we have in front of us, was developed in the Rostov and Suzdal school, and was finally implemented in the Moscow school. The latter typology is distinguished by the Mother of God depicted in the central register, in front of the church. The omophorion, or the "pokrov", with which she protects the believers, she holds in her two hands, instead of being held by the two angels, as would be depicted by the Novgorod painters. Apart from the apostles, different martyrs, and Andrew of Constantinople, in the lower central register, just below the Virgin, there is a character typical of the Rostov school, Roman the Méloda, the author of several songs dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is worth noting that on both sides of the scene we see St. Alexius of Rome, or St. Alexius the Beggar, and the martyr Anisia of Thessalonica. The characteristics of the auctioned lot are very peculiar, and help to determine the approximate date and even the school with great accuracy. The central figure of the Virgin appears with her face slightly turned to the left, while in the traditional version it is usually frontal. Together with the very ornamental typography, and the painted clouds, imitating archaic stylistics, it can be concluded that it is an icon painted in the workshops of the northern schools, or rather in the Muscovite workshops, both styles with many points in common. Most probably it is about the so-called "fedoseevtsy" painters, who were the Old Believers from the North of Russia, who settled in Moscow, in the Preoobrazhenskoe cemetery, around 1771, and organized an icon-painting workshop there.

Estim. 2 500 - 2 700 EUR

Russian icon from the Old Believers' Workshops, 19th century. "Resurrection of Christ, Christ's Descent into Hell, and his life in 28 hagiographic scenes". Tempera on panel. It shows humidity damage, loss of pictorial layer and a crack in the panel. Measurements: 53 x 42,5 cm. Christ's descent into hell is one of the most important representations in Christian iconography. This passage was known in Ancient Rus since the 11th century, although it gained maximum popularity in the second half of the 14th century. Iconography of this New Testament passage finally developed in the 17th century in Moscow workshops. In this period, the icon reached its maximum complexity, combining the passages of the New and Old Testament, and in turn, composing in one the scenes of the resurrection and the descent of Christ to hell. The icon of interest, attracts the viewer's attention by its complex structure, concentrating maximum attention on the central register, where, through a complex and dynamic composition, the resurrection and the descent into hell are narrated simultaneously. In both cases the figure of Christ with golden mandorla, is surrounded by various saints, apostles, and Old Testament characters, such as Adam, who is recognized as a bearded man holding Christ's hand. In this section, the allegory of hell, represented as an eye, and polychrome in reddish tones, is very striking. The central register is surrounded by two rows of hagiographic scenes, which relate Marian passages, the life of Christ, and his passions. Each of these twenty-eight scenes is astonishing for its pictorial quality, great detail, and architectural richness. Among this horror vacui, a series of details stand out, which help to classify this icon as belonging to the workshops of the Old Believers. For example, the abundance of diverse inscriptions in the frames of the scenes-miniatures, and the typology of the eight-point cross, and with a skull on the feet of Jesus Christ, or the blessing with two fingers, are the most evident signs. The Old Believers were a group of the Orthodox, who after Nikon's ecclesiastical reforms of 1654, decided to follow their opponent Avvakum, defending the traditional foundations of the Orthodox Church. Fleeing persecution, they settled in the villages of Pomorie, near the Urals and in Siberia, although by the 18th century they began to settle in the northern areas near Moscow. The Faith of the Old Believers was legalized in 1905 only, boosting the interest within the Russian Empire for the discovery of the national religious heritage, as well as developing the collecting of ancient icons, never experienced until then.

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