24 - Russian icon depicting the Dormition of the Mother of God—first half of the 19th century

Russian icon depicting the Dormition of the Mother of God—first half of the 19th century tempera on panel Height x width: 29.5 x 20.5 cm Icon on panel depicting the Dormition of the Mother of God (Uspenie Presvyatoy Bogoroditsy), one of the Twelve Great Feasts (Dodekaorton) of the Orthodox liturgical calendar, celebrated on August 15 according to the Julian calendar.The composition depicts the Virgin lying upon her funeral bier, wrapped in the traditional dark red maphorion, while the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church gather around her body in an attitude of prayer and veneration. At the center of the group stand three bishops, identifiable as the great Fathers of the Eastern Church, in accordance with the traditional iconographic model.Behind the funeral bier, Christ appears within a large, radiant mandorla, holding in His arms the soul of the Virgin, represented as a small swaddled child clothed in white garments, symbolizing her birth into eternal life.The lower section depicts the well-known episode of the impious priest Jephonias, who, while attempting to overturn the Virgin’s bier, is miraculously stopped by an angel who severs his hands—an episode derived from the apocryphal accounts of the Dormition.The gilded background, the gold-leaf halos, and the strongly hierarchical composition lend the scene a profound liturgical solemnity. Slavonic inscriptions along the upper border identify the subject, while the overall composition faithfully follows the iconographic models of nineteenth-century Russian icon painting.The iconography of the Dormition constitutes one of the fundamental subjects of Byzantine and Russian sacred art, commemorating the Mother of God’s passage from earthly life to heavenly glory. Throughout the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century, this subject was widely produced in the workshops of central Russia, particularly in the artistic centers of Moscow, Mstëra, Palekh, and Kholuy, for both private devotion and domestic iconostases. Item condition rating: ***good.The lot is in good condition, with normal wear and defects commensurate with its age and use over time. The painted surface is in poor condition, exhibiting widespread loss of the ground layer and paint film, extensive surface abrasions, numerous areas of paint loss, and significant wear, particularly along the upper edge and the outer borders. Also visible are widespread craquelure, minor lifting of the ground layer, scratches, deterioration of the gold leaf, and numerous small holes attributable to the former attachment of a metal riza or other ornamental elements.The wooden support is structurally stable and retains its two original rear cross battens (šponki), characteristic of the traditional construction of nineteenth-century Russian icons. The reverse side displays the normal signs of age and use, with no evidence of invasive structural restorations. Despite the extensive losses affecting the painted surface, the iconographic composition remains clearly legible, and the work retains significant historical, devotional, and collector’s interest.