32 Icons from the Bible, with footnotes, 5

RUSSIAN ICON
THE SAVIOUR IN A GILT SILVER AND NIELLO OKLAD, CENTRAL RUSSIA, EARLY 1700S, OKLAD CIRCA 1836
 Egg tempera, gold leaf, and gesso on wood panel
37.3 x 31.8 cm (14 5/8 x 12 1/2 in.),

The portrait of Christ appears on a delicately shaded green cloth with intricately gilded acanthus leaves, held up by two angels standing on rolling clouds, the gilt silver oklad with niello details, the edges with chased borders featuring scrolling grave vines, with a gilt silver radiating halo. More

 RUSSIAN ICON
SAINT GEORGE BATTLING THE DRAGON, 16TH CENTURY
 Egg tempera, gold leaf, and gesso on wood panel with kovcheg
68.5 x 59 cm (27 x 23 1/4 in.) 

Saint George on his white steed trampling a winged red dragon coiled underfoot, meanwhile the princess Elisaba of Atalia watches from the entrance of the castle as her parents and townspeople observe from the castle`s roof, emerging from the upper left corner is the guiding Hand of God. More

RUSSIAN ICON
THE NATIVITY OF MARY, 16TH CENTURY
 Egg tempera, gold leaf, and gesso on wood panel with kovcheg
31.6 x 28 cm (12 1/2 x 11 in.)

Seated figure of St. Anna is presented on a bed, contemplating the miraculous birth of the Holy Virgin, she is attended by three handmaidens who bring her the symbols of fertility and life, in the lower right a midwife and a servant prepare the ritual bath for the infant Mary, in the upper right the hitherto barren Saint Anna and Saint Joachim are shown cradling the infant Mother Mary.

RUSSIAN ICON
THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL, 18TH OR 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf, and gesso on wood panel
36 x 29 cm (14 1/8 x 11 3/8 in.)

Depicted as a warlord and an angel of the Apocalypse on a winged horse, defeating Satan with a spear. Surrounded by Jesus Emmanuel in the upper right, as well as four saints on the sides. More

RUSSIAN ICON
CHRIST PANTOCRATOR IN A GILT SILVER OKLAD, c. MOSCOW, 1899-1908
Oil and gesso on a wood panel
22.2 x 18 cm (8 7/8 x 7 1/8 in.)

Christ depicted holding an open Gospel and raising a hand in a blessing gesture. The oklad features an openwork halo and ornate vestments on machine-turned ground, with the border decorated with a weave pattern. More

RUSSIAN ICON
THE FEODOROVSKAYA MOTHER OF GOD, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, enamel paints, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
66 x 50 cm (26 x 19 3/4 in.)

The Christ Child delicately embraces the Holy Virgin by her neck and presses his cheeck against the mother`s, elaborate raised beads on Mary`s omophorion accentuate the serenity of the faces. More

RUSSIAN ICON
THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING, 18TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
35.8 x 31 cm (14 x 12 1/4 in.)

The central figure of the Holy Virgin with the Christ Child appears to spring from a water source near the Gates of Constantinople, declaring these waters, symbolic of herself, the source of life and health, in the lower register those stricken with afflictions are depicted drinking the waters and recovering from what ails them. More

RUSSIAN ICON, PSKOV SCHOOL
FOUR PRAYING SAINTS, 16TH-17TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel with a kovcheg
24 x 17.5 cm (9 1/2 x 6 7/8 in.)

The four saints shown gathered together in prayer. The foreground presents a Bishop saint holding a Gospel, on the left, and Venerable Alexander Svirsky on the right, with two saints wearing monk`s vestments behind them, all gazing at the Old Testament Trinity in the hypostasis of the Angels depicted in the upper center. More

RUSSIAN ICON
THE PROTECTING VEIL OF THE VIRGIN, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on a wood panel
36 x 31.7 cm (14 1/8 x 12 1/2 in.)

The upper register features a scene taking place at Hagia Sophia; the Virgin Orans stands opening her veil, the apostles and Church Fathers depicted gathering around her, led by Peter, Paul and the archangels; beneath them, Romanos the Melodist holds the text of his hymn, surrounded by selected saints. More

RUSSIAN FOUR PART ICON, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf, and gesso on a wood panel
31 x 27.5 cm (13 1/8 x 10 7/8 in.)

A group of four selected saints including St. Timothy and St. Matrona, as well as three depictions of the Mother of God: The Unexpected Joy, The Seeker of the Lost, Soothe My Sorrows.More

RUSSIAN ICON
THE MOTHER OF GOD OF THE UNEXPECTED JOY, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on a wood panel with a kovcheg
35.5 x 31 cm (14 x 12 1/4 in.)

The upper register features the scene of a kneeling sinner in front of the icon of the Mother of God who speaks to him in dispraise, surrounded by the selected saints, four on each side. The lower register depicts Saint Apostles Peter and Paul holding a church, with ten saints surrounding them, including evangelists, apostles and theologians. More

RUSSIAN ICON
KAZANSKAYA MOTHER OF GOD, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on a wood panel with a kovcheg
36 x 31.6 cm (14 1/8 x 12 1/2 in.)

Virgin Mary gently holds her Child in a tender embrace. More

RUSSIAN ICON 
MOTHER OF GOD JOY TO THOSE WHO SORROW, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, enamel paint, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
31 x 26.5 cm (12 1/4 x 10 1/2 in.)

Theotokos depicted in the center, surrounded by the afflicted and the crippled, with Christ Pantokrator blessing them from above. More

RUSSIAN ICON
FIVE SELECT SAINTS AND MARTYRS, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
31.2 x 26.2 cm (12 1/4 x 10 1/4 in.)

A congregation of three saints and two martyrs including Saint Daniel of Moscow, Saint Peter the Metropolitan of Moscow, Saint Philip the Metropolitan of Moscow, and the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, the holies are surrounded by an image of Mother Mary and the Christ Child being held up by angels. More

RUSSIAN ICON
MOTHER OF GOD HODEGETRIA, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
29.7 x 26 cm (11 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.)

Also known as Our Lady of the Way, the figure of Mother Mary gently directs our attention to the Christ Child as the source of salvation for mankind, Jesus looks directly at the viewer, with a scroll in one hand and with the other formed in a gesture of blessing. More

RUSSIAN ICON
FEODOROVSKAYA MOTHER OF GOD, KOSTROMA SCHOOL, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
63.5 x 49 cm (25 x 19 1/4 in.)

Holy Virgin depicted holding her son in a tender embrace, the striking contrast of the holy faces is enhanced by the vivid color of child`s himation and a restrained dark border, the ribbon along the lower edge describes the miraculous discovery of the icon by Prince Vasily of Kostroma. More

RUSSIAN ICON
RESURRECTION WITH FEASTS, 18TH OR 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
68.5 x 61 cm (27 x 24 in.)

The central part features the scenes of the Resurrection and the Harrowing of Hell with the Last Supper above, surrounded by 26 feasts and five depictions of the saints in the lower register, as well as Christ Pantocrator and Saint John the Baptist. More

RUSSIAN ICON
CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel with kovcheg
31.2 x 27.5 cm (12 1/4 x 10 3/4 in.)

the central enthroned figure of Christ Pantocrator is surrounded by the twelve apostles together with the Mother Mary and John the Baptist. More

A RUSSIAN ICON
FEODOROVSKAYA MOTHER OF GOD, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel with kovcheg
31.5 x 27 cm (12 3/8 x 10 5/8 in.)

Mother of God is shown holding up the Christ Child who reaches up to tenderly touch her face. The background and border with punched Russian Revival ornament. More

RUSSIAN ICON
MOTHER OF GOD JOY TO THOSE WHO SORROW, 19TH CENTURY
Egg tempera, gold leaf and gesso on wood panel
34.7 x 31 cm (13 5/8 x 12 1/4 in.)

The central icon depicting the Holy Virgin standing on a pedestal and blessing the surrounding suppliants an Guardian Angels, the figure of Christ with the golden rays of divine light appears on a cloud at the top of the icon, with a gilded polychrome border in the Russian-revival style. More

Niccolò di ser Sozzo, (1340 - 1363 SIENA)
THE CRUCIFIXION WITH THE VIRGIN MARY AND SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST
tempera and gold on panel, in an applied frame
overall dimensions, including frame: 32 x 22.7 cm.; 12 5/8  x 8 7/8  in.; painted surface: 28.4 x 18.8 cm.; 11 1/8  x 7 3/8  in

John the Evangelist is traditionally regarded as the author of the Gospel of John and other Johannine literature in the New Testament: the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation. More

Niccolò di Ser Sozzo (fl. 1334–1363) was an Italian painter and manuscript illuminator. Niccolo was one of the leading panel painters and miniaturists at work in Siena in the mid-14th century. His style is closest to that of Lippo Vanni and his sometime collaborator Luca di Tomme and is ultimately dependent upon the tradition of Simone Martini and, especially, the Lorenzetti brothers, in whose workshop he may have apprenticed. More

Saint  John the Evangelist
Miniature from the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany, f. 355, (16th century)
The Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany  is a book of hours, commissioned by Anne of Brittany, Queen of France. More

Saint George, Saint Cosmas, Saint Damien and others standing, Christ above
With Cyrillic legends
18th century AD
Wooden icon with tempera paint
61.5 x 72cm (24 1/4 x 28 1/2")

Saint George (AD 275–281 to 23 April 303), according to legend, was a Roman soldier and military officer in the Guard of Emperor Diocletian of the Roman army, who ordered his death for failing to recant his Christian faith. As a Christian martyr, he later became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity.

In hagiography, as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalised in the myth of Saint George and the Dragon killing in Beirut, Lebanon. Numerous countries, cities, professions and organisations claim Saint George as their patron.

According to some sources his parents were Christians of the noble Roman family of the Anici. Other sources say his parents were Christians of Greek background; his father Gerontius was a Roman army official from Cappadocia, and his mother Polychronia was a Christian and a Greek native from Lydda in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina (Palestine). Accounts differ regarding whether George was born in Cappadocia or Syria Palaestina, but agree that he was raised at least partly in Lydda. More

Saints Cosmas and Damian (died c. ad 287) were reputed twin brothers, physicians, and early Christian martyrs. They practiced their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Syria. Accepting no payment for their services led to them being named Anarguroi (saints who did not accept payment for good deeds); it has been said that, by this, they attracted many to the Christian faith.

 Saints Cosmas and Damian
Miniature from the Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany, f. 355, (16th century)
The Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany  is a book of hours, commissioned by Anne of Brittany, Queen of France. More

Nothing is known of their lives except that they suffered martyrdom in Syria during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. According to Christian traditions, the twin brothers were born in Arabia and became skilled doctors. During the persecution Cosmas and Damian were arrested by order of the Prefect of Cilicia who ordered them under torture to recant. However, according to legend they stayed true to their faith, enduring being hung on a cross, stoned and shot by arrows and finally suffered execution by beheading. Anthimus, Leontius and Euprepius, their younger brothers, who were inseparable from them throughout life, shared in their martyrdom.

Their most famous miraculous exploit was the grafting of a leg from a recently deceased Ethiopian to replace a patient's ulcered or cancerous leg, and was the subject of many paintings and illuminations. More

ARTIST OF THE TUSCAN XVI CENTURY 
Imposition of the Stigmata of St. Francis.
TEMPERA ON PAPER APPLIED ON CARDBOARD 
Size cm: 47 x 35

Bartolomeo della Gatta (1448–1502)
Stigmata of St Francis, circa 1487
Tempera on panel
Height: 186 cm (73.2 in). Width: 162 cm (63.8 in).
Pinacoteca Comunale, Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy
More on Saint Francis Below

Bartolomeo della Gatta (1448–1502), born Pietro di Antonio Dei, was an Italian painter, illuminator, and architect. He was a colleague of Fra Bartolommeo. In 1468, Bartolomeo became a monk in the Order of Camaldoli, which his brother Nicolo had already entered. Upon taking holy orders, he changed his name to Bartolomeo. About 1481, he was summoned to Rome where he contributed to the cycle of frescos on the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Bartolomeo eventually became Abbot of San Clemente in Arezzo. More

Bartolomeo Montagna, ORZINUOVI CIRCA 1450 - 1523 VICENZA
THE YOUNG CHRIST
oil on panel
36.5 x 28 cm.; 14 3/8  x 11 in.

This is the primary signed and dated version of three panels representing the young Christ which Montagna executed in or around 1507 when the artist was in Verona. More

Bartolomeo Montagna (1450–1523) was an Italian painter and architect who worked in Vicenza and Venice. He putatively was born near Brescia. His initial training was presumably under Domenico Morone in Verona, where he seems to have acquired a late Quattrocento refinement, similar to that of Carpaccio and Mantegna. The figures have a strict organization in space, and the peaceful expressions of classic detachment. He is also considered to be heavily influenced by Giovanni Bellini, in whose workshop he might have worked around 1490. Benedetto Montagna, a productive engraver, was his son and pupil and active till past 1540. Marcello Fogolino was one of his pupils. More

Bartolomeo Montagna (1450–1523)
Virgin and Child Enthroned with St. Homoborus and a beggar, with St. Francis and the Blessed Bernardo da Feltre, and with Saint Catherine, circa 1515
Oil on canvas
Bode-Museum Berlin
photographer by Andreas Praefcke, 2007

Saint Homobonus, (12th century, 1197 died) is the patron saint of business people, tailors, shoemakers, and clothworkers, as well as of Cremona, Italy. He was canonized in 1199 at the urgent request of the citizens of Cremona. He died on November 13, 1197.

He was a merchant from Cremona, northern Italy. Born Omobono Tucenghi, he was a married layman who believed that God had allowed him to work in order that he would be able to support people living in a state of poverty. His name is derived from the Latin homo bonus ("good man").

Saint Homobonus (12th century, 1197 died)

Homobonus was able to pursue this calling in life easily as a result of the inheritance he received from his father, a prosperous tailor and merchant. He practiced his business at Cremona with scrupulous honesty. He also donated a large proportion of his profits to the relief of the poor.

Homobonus was a frequent church attendee that would partake in the Eucharist every day. While attending mass, prostrated in the form of a cross, on November 13, 1197, Homobonus died. Fourteen months later Homobonus was canonized by Pope Innocent III who called him "father of the poor", "consoler of the afflicted", "assiduous in constant prayer", "man of peace and peacemaker", "a man good in name and deed", "this saint, is still like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in our time." More

Saint Francis of Assisi (1181/1182 – 3 October 1226), was an Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Francis is one of the most venerated religious figures in history.

In 1219, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades. By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order. In 1224, he received the stigmata, during the apparition of Seraphic angels in a religious ecstasy making him the first recorded person to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion. 

Pope Gregory IX canonised Francis on 16 July 1228. Along with Saint Catherine of Siena, he was designated Patron saint of Italy.  More

Saint Catherine of Siena


Saint Catherine of Siena, T.O.S.D. (March 25, 1347 in Siena – April 29, 1380 in Rome), was a tertiary of the Dominican Order and a Scholastic philosopher and theologian. She also worked to bring the papacy of Gregory XI back to Rome from its displacement in France and to establish peace among the Italian city-states. Since 18 June 1939, she is one of the two patron saints of Italy, together with St. Francis of Assisi. On 3 October 1970, she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI, and on 1 October 1999, Pope John Paul II named her as one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Bridget of Sweden and Edith Stein. More


The Blessed Bernardine of Feltre was a Friar Minor and missionary, b. at Feltre, Italy, in 1439 and d. at Pavia, 28 September 1494. He is remembered in connexion with the monti di pietà ( mount of piety) of which he was the reorganizer and, in a certain sense, the founder, together with the Blessed Michele Carcano. More

This fifteenth-century institution originated in Italy and was developed in cities as a reform against money lending, an early form of organized charity.

Bartolomeo Montagna, see above,  was commissioned by the Bishop Pietro Barozzi with some of the wall decorations of the throne room of the Bishop's Palace (Palazzo Vescovile) of Padua, depicting portraits of early bishops of the Veneto. 

Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, called Giampietrino, ACTIVE MILAN CIRCA 1495-1549
THE MADONNA SUCKLING THE INFANT CHRIST
oil on poplar panel
64.8 x 47.7 cm.; 25 1/2  x 18 3/4  in.

The Madonna suckling the Christ Child has the distinction of having been in the same collection as Leonardo’s Virgin of the Rocks (National Gallery, London). It is one of Giampietrino’s best pictures left in private hands. 

This painting also adopts one of the oldest iconographic images of the Virgin, the Virgo lactans, or nursing Madonna.   More

Giampietrino, probably Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli (active 1495–1549), was a north Italian painter of the Lombard school and Leonardo's circle. Giampietrino was a very productive painter of large altarpieces, Madonnas, holy women in half figure, and mythological women. 

Giampietrino has been regarded as a talented painter who contributed substantially to the distribution of the late style of Leonardo da Vinci. He copied numerous masterpieces by Leonardo, as well as leaving behind numerous capable original compositions of his own. Many of his works are preserved in multiple versions of the same subject. More

ARTIST VENETO - CRETAN OF XVII CENTURY 
Mother & Child
TEMPERA SU TAVOLA 
Size cm: 29 x 25


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