1 Religious Icon, 19th C. Russian Icon of Sergey Kirillov's Reverend Sergius of Radonezh, with footnotes #49

Sergey Kirillov

Reverend Sergius of Radonezh, c. 1992

Oil on canvas

100x80

I have no further description, at this time

Saint Sergius of Radonezh, Russian Svyatoy Sergy Radonezhsky, original name Barfolomey Kirillovich, (born May 3, 1314, Rostov, Russia—died Sept. 25, 1392, Radonezh, near Moscow), Russian Orthodox monk whose spiritual doctrine and social programs made him one of Russia’s most respected spiritual leaders. His monastery of the Trinity became the Russian centre and symbol of religious renewal and national identity.

He was tonsured a monk in 1337 and later was ordained a priest. His chapel retreat in the forest of Radonezh became, by 1354, a spiritual centre traditionally known as the Sergian monastery of the Trinity (now Sergiyev Posad). The religious house contributed to Russia’s economic and cultural recovery by the establishment of monastic schools after the ravages of 13th-century Mongol invasions. It also served as a centre of missionary activities in northern Russia, establishing as many as 75 monasteries.

Sergius soon gained fame for his ascetic life, wonder-working, and compassion for the needy and backward, and he taught the peasants better methods for cultivating the soil. He also carried out several diplomatic missions designed to unite the scattered Russian principalities under the authority of Great Prince Dmitry Donskoy of Moscow, who, after Sergius’ exhortation, in 1380 led Russian forces in repelling the Tatars and Mongols at the Battle of Kulikovo, a plain south of Moscow by the Don River. As a consequence, Sergius was hailed as the saint protector of Russia. Although he left no writings, his teachings and monastic institutions inspired an oral tradition that exerted a principal influence on Russian spirituality. Hundreds of his disciples, beginning even during his lifetime, adopted the monastic way, founded new monasteries throughout the forests of northern Russia, and thus contributed to the colonization and development of the area. More on Saint Sergius of Radonezh

Sergei Alekseevich Kirillov (1960 in Moscow, Soviet Union) is a leading modern Russian artist, who is focusing on historical paintings. His subjects have included Dmitry Mikhailovich Bobrok,[1] Stepan Razin, Princess Olga, Ivan the Terrible, Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and Dmitry Donskoy.

In 1984 he graduated from The Surikov Art Institute in Moscow, from the studio of Professor Dmitry Konstantinovich Mochalsky. His graduate work was depicting Peter the Great. His paintings are now regularly published in history classroom books, monographs of The History of Russia, and historical belletristic literature. Since 1987, 24 exhibitions of his paintings have been held in Moscow and other cities in Russia.

His works are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, and the art museums of Pereslavl, Bryansk, Alexandrov, and other towns in Russia. More on Sergei Alekseevich Kirillov

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01 Religious Icon, Follower of Joos van Cleve's Virgin and Child, with footnotes #47

Follower of Joos van Cleve

Virgin and Child

Oil on panel, unframed

17,7 x 13,2 cm ; 7 by 5 ¼ in.

Private collection

Estimate for 15,000 - 20,000 EUR in November 2022

In the tradition of small paintings kept in the private sphere, our Virgin and Child was dedicated to private devotion. In the tradition of Gérard David, the models circulated and spread widely in Flanders throughout thesixteenth century. More on this Icon

Virgin and Child or Madonna and Child or Mary and Child usually refers to artistic depictions of Mary and Child Jesus together, as part of both Catholic and Orthodox church traditions, and very notably in the Marian art in the Catholic Church. The various different names are effectively interchangeable, and any particular work may be given different titles by different sources. More on Virgin and Child

Joos van Cleve, also Joos van der Beke; c. 1485–1490 – 1540/1541) was a leading painter active in Antwerp from his arrival there around 1511 until his death in 1540 or 1541. Within Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he combines the traditional techniques of Early Netherlandish painting with influences of more contemporary Renaissance painting styles.

An active member and co-deacon of the Guild of Saint Luke of Antwerp, he is known mostly for his religious works and portraits, some of royalty. He ran a large workshop, with at least five pupils and other assistants, which produced paintings in a variety of styles over his career. As a skilled technician, his art shows sensitivity to color and a unique solidarity of figures. His style is highly eclectic: he was one of the first to introduce broad world landscapes in the backgrounds of his paintings, sometimes collaborating with Joachim Patinir, which would become a popular technique of sixteenth century northern Renaissance paintings. Some works reflect the popular style of Antwerp Mannerism, while others are variations on early Netherlandish masters of two or more generations before, or reflect recent Italian painting. More on Joos van Cleve

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01 Religious Icon, Central Franconian Master's Saint Margaret of Antioch, with footnotes #46

Central Franconian Master, 1436

Scene from the Life of Saint Margaret of Antioch

Oil on panel

57 x 42 cm

Private collection

Sold for USD 39,000 .- in Nov 2022

St. Margaret of Antioch, also called St. Marina, (flourished 3rd or 4th century, Antioch, Syria), virgin martyr and was one of the most venerated saints during the Middle Ages. Her story, generally regarded to be fictitious, is substantially that of the Eastern St. Marina of Antioch and is related to that of St. Pelagia of Antioch, who is also known as Margaret or Marina.

During the reign (284–305) of the Roman emperor Diocletian, Margaret allegedly refused marriage with the prefect Olybrius at Antioch and was consequently beheaded after undergoing extravagant trials and tortures. Her designation as patron saint of expectant mothers and her emblem, a dragon, are based on one of her trials: Satan, disguised as a dragon, swallowed Margaret; his stomach, however, soon rejecting her, opened, and let her out unharmed. In 1969 Margaret’s feast day, formerly July 20, was eliminated in the revised calendar of the Roman Catholic Church because it is doubtful whether she ever existed. Nevertheless, during the medieval period she ranked among the most famous saints; her voice was among those attested to have been heard by St. Joan of Arc. More on St. Margaret of Antioch

Central Franconian Master is an unknown, highly skilled painter who worked in Franconia, a region in northern Bavaria (Germany) in the first quarter of the sixteenth century. The artist was familiar with the work of his famous contemporaries Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach.

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01 Religious Icon, Theotokos of Vladimir, the holy protectress of Russia, with footnotes #45

Unknown iconographer

Theotokos of Vladimir, c. 1130 in Constantinople

Tempera on panel

104 x 69 cm

Tretyakov Gallery

Theotokos of Vladimir. About 1131 the Greek Patriarch of Constantinople sent the icon as a gift to Grand Duke Yury Dolgorukiy of Kiev. The image was kept in a monastery, until Dolgorukiy's son Andrey Bogolyubskiy brought it to his favourite city, Vladimir, in 1155. Tradition tells that the horses transporting the icon stopped near Vladimir and refused to go further. People interpreted this as a sign that the Theotokos wanted her icon to stay in Vladimir. To house the icon, the great Assumption Cathedral was built there, followed by other churches dedicated to the Virgin throughout Ukraine. However the presence of the icon did not prevent the sack and burning of the city by the Mongols in 1238, when the icon was damaged by fire. It was first restored after this, and again before 1431 and in 1512.

According to the traditional accounts the image was taken from Vladimir to the new capital, Moscow, in 1395 during Tamerlane's invasion. Vasili I of Moscow spent a night crying over the icon, and Tamerlane's armies retreated the same day. The Muscovites refused to return the icon to Vladimir and placed it in the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Moscow Kremlin.

Crediting the icon with saving Moscow in 1395 does not appear in sources until the late 15th century, and the full version of the story until accounts of 1512 and then the 1560s. By the 16th century, the Vladimirskaya was a thing of legend, and associated with the growth of Russian national consciousness based on the Muscovite state. The intercession of the Theotokos through the image was credited also with saving Moscow from Tatar hordes in 1451 and 1480. More on Theotokos of Vladimir

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01 Religious Icon, Saint Christopher with the head of a dog, with footnotes #42

Unknown iconographer

 Saint Christopher with the head of a dog, Greece, 18. Century

Tempera on gesso, the Background gilded

27.5 cm x 22.5 cm. 

Private collection

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, certain icons covertly identify Saint Christopher with the head of a dog. Such images may carry echoes of the Egyptian dog-headed god, Anubis. Christopher pictured with a dog's head is not generally supported by the Orthodox Church, as the icon was proscribed in the 18th century by Moscow.

The roots of that iconography lie in a hagiographic narrative set during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, which tell of a man named Reprebus, Rebrebus or Reprobus (the "reprobate" or "scoundrel") being captured by Roman forces fighting against tribes dwelling to the west of Egypt in Cyrenaica and forced to join the Roman numerus Marmaritarum,. He was reported to be of enormous size, with the head of a dog instead of a man, both apparently being typical of the Marmaritae. He and the unit were later transferred to Syrian Antioch, where bishop Peter of Attalia baptised him and where he was martyred in 308. It has also been speculated that this Byzantine depiction of St. Christopher as dog-headed may have resulted from a misreading of the Latin term Cananeus (Canaanite) as caninus, that is, "canine".

The late 10th century German bishop and poet Walter of Speyer portrayed St. Christopher as a giant of a cynocephalic species in the land of Canaan who ate human flesh and barked. Eventually, Christopher met the Christ child, regretted his former behavior, and received baptism. He, too, was rewarded with a human appearance, whereupon he devoted his life to Christian service and became an Athleta Christi, one of the military saints. More on Christopher with the head of a dog

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01 Religious Icon, Christ Pantocrator, with footnotes #41

Unknown artist

Christ Pantocrator

SILVER GOLD PLATED OKLAD

9 x 7,5 cm

Private collection

In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator is a specific depiction of Christ. Pantocrator or Pantokrator, usually translated as "Almighty" or "all-powerful", is derived from one of many names of God in Judaism.

The Pantokrator, largely an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic theological conception, is less common under that name in Western (Roman) Catholicism and largely unknown to most Protestants. In the West, the equivalent image in art is known as Christ in Majesty, which developed a rather different iconography. Christ Pantocrator has come to suggest Christ as a mild but stern, all-powerful judge of humanity. More on Christ Pantocrator

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01 Religious Icon, Simone Martini's Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus, with footnotes #40

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi

Annunciation with St. Margaret (Maxima) and St. Ansanus, c. 1333

Tempera and gold on panel

305 cm × 265 cm (120 in × 104 in)

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

The work is composed of a large central panel depicting the Annunciation, and two side panels with St. Ansanus (left), and female saint, generally identified with St. Maxima or St. Margaret, in the right, and four tondos in the cusps: Jeremiah, Ezechiel, Isiah and Daniel.

The Annunciation shows the archangel Gabriel entering the house of the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will soon bear the child Jesus, whose name means "savior". Gabriel holds an olive branch in his hand, a traditional symbol of peace, while pointing at the Holy Ghost's dove with the other. The dove is descending from heaven, from the center of the mandorla of eight angels above, about to enter the Virgin's right ear. In fact, along the path of the dove, viewers see Gabriel's utterance: ave gratia plena dominvs tecvm ("Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."). 

Mary, sitting on a throne, is portrayed at the moment that she is startled out of her reading, reacting with a graceful and composed reluctance, looking with surprise at the celestial messenger. Her dress has an arabesque-like pattern. More on this work

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi

Detail; with St. Margaret (Maxima) and St. Ansanus

St. Maxima was a house servant and nanny to a family of imperial nobility in ancient Rome. She was given responsibility for caring for the family’s son, Ansanus, and she secretly baptized him as a child and raised him as a Christian.

When he was 19, Ansanus’ own father denounced him as a Christian during a persecution. Ansanus boldly admitted his faith, and both he and Maxima were beaten and scourged; Maxima died from these wounds. Ansanus survived, and escaped Rome and fled north. 

As he traveled, he told those he met the good news of Jesus Christ, and baptized so many people in the region near Siena that he became known as Ansanus the Baptizer. He was finally captured and beheaded by order of the emperor. More on St. Maxima and St. Ansanus

Simone Martini (c. 1284 – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style.

It is thought that Martini was a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading Sienese painter of his time. According to late Renaissance art biographer Giorgio Vasari, Simone was instead a pupil of Giotto di Bondone, with whom he went to Rome to paint at the Old St. Peter's Basilica, Giotto also executing a mosaic there. Martini's brother-in-law was the artist Lippo Memmi. Very little documentation of Simone's life survives, and many attributions are debated by art historians. According to E. H. Gombrich, he was a friend of Petrarch and had painted a portrait of Laura. More on Simone Martini

Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356) was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law.

Together with Martini, in 1333 he painted what is regarded as one of the masterworks of the International Gothic, the Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus (above), probably mainly working on the two saints. He was one of the artists who worked at Orvieto Cathedral, for which he finished the Virgin of Mercy ("Madonna dei Raccomandati"). Later he followed Martini to the Papal court in Avignon, where he worked until the mid-14th century. After his return to Siena, Memmi continued to work until his death in 1356.

Memmi's famed artwork, La Madonna della Febbre was the first venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary granted with a Canonical coronation by a Pope on 27 May 1631. The image has long been since held miraculous and is enshrined at the Sacristy chapel of the Blessed Sacrament inside Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. More on Lippo Memmi

 

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