26 - RUSSIAN SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY

RUSSIAN SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY OUR LADY OF VLADIMIR (VLADIMIRSKAYA) WITH A RIZA Egg tempera on wood with a metal riza, embossed and chased. 34 x 27 cm. The work depicts the MOTHER OF GOD OF VLADIMIR, one of the most famous and venerated images in the Russian religious tradition, traceable to the Byzantine model of the Virgin Eleusa, or the Virgin of Tenderness, whose iconographic popularity spread widely throughout the Orthodox world beginning in the 12th century. The composition is characterized by the tender emotional bond between the Virgin and the Child, depicted with their faces close together in a gesture of profound intimacy. Christ clings to his Mother, wrapping an arm around her neck, while Mary supports him and gently guides his figure with a measured gesture. The tenderness of the embrace is contrasted by the Virgin’s pensive expression; her gaze, directed outside the composition, lends the image a dimension of intense spirituality. The particular arrangement of the figures, together with the characteristic detail of the Child’s foot turned toward the viewer, faithfully reproduces the distinctive elements of the ancient prototype of the Vladimirskaya, reinterpreted over the centuries by Russian iconographers. The painted surface, visible on the faces and hands, reveals a refined sensibility in the definition of the features and the modulation of the skin tones, emphasizing the intimate and contemplative nature of the depiction. Of remarkable decorative effect is the metal border, worked in repoussé and chiseled, which covers most of the panel. The contrast between the metal surfaces and the painted sections helps to enhance the monumentality and preciousness of the image. The icon is an interesting example of 19th-century Russian devotional art, in which the continuity of the Byzantine figurative tradition is combined with a taste for the decorative richness of metal inlays, intended to confer particular prestige and solemnity on sacred images.