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Icons for SALE |
The Virgin Eleusa; St. Pantaleon, St. Basil the Great, St. John the Precursor and St. Elijah.
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1807; Mount Athos,
tempera on wood; 54 x 36 cm., National History Museum. The Icon has a decorated frame and painted background. An inscription at the bottom bears the name of the donor - the monk Vassilius from John the Precursor Church in Mount Athos and the year of depiction - 1807. The upper two thirds of the icon present a classical in iconography interpretation of the Virgin Eleusa. The lower part features the full face, waist-length images of the four saints, listed above. The icon possesses all features of the representative Athonian icon-painting of the time. The images are exquisite, with beautiful faces. Colours are bright, cheerful, precisely constructed. The icon is a perfect work of art, cheerful and exuberant, lacking the inhibiting grayness of the icon-painting from the previous centuries. A typical for the period manner of painting shows a tendency towards a detailed depiction, embellishments and decoration - angels supports the Virgin's crown, Cod the Father and cherubim appear above the Virgin; the images of the four saints are encircled by painted arches, supported by columns, additionally decorated with painted ornamentation. |
