1 Religious Icon, 18th C. Russian Icon, Christ Emmanuel, with footnotes #19

Unknown iconographer

Christ Emmanuel, 18th C. Russian Icon

Egg tempera and gold leaf on wood

10.25" W x 12.25" H (26 cm x 31.1 cm)

Private collection

The text beneath may refer to a passage of Isaiah that Christ read in the synagogue of Nazareth, "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the afflicted".

The prophet Isaiah coined the term Emmanuel which means God is with us, and this icon captures that sense of immediate presence. According to Alfredo Tradigo, "We see not a child before us, but the mysterious, unknowable face of God, who is eternally young and old at once, as emphasized by the Church Fathers. The figure's young age stands not for the Child but, rather, for the incorruptible, timeless youth of the sacrificial Lamb, daily renewed on the altar in the bloodless sacrifice of the Eucharist. Tradigo continues to explain that the placement of an Emmanuel icon at the Cathedral of the Dormition in Moscow, in a Deesis over the northern doors of the iconostasis that lead to the prosthesis (the special room where these holy gifts are prepared) attests to this interpretation. The smooth-faced Christ Emmanuel is traditionally inserted in an angelic Deesis between Gabriel and Michael the holy archangels who protect the Divine Liturgy). In some cases a grand ensemble of angels forms an assembly around Emmanuel. More on this Icon

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1 Religious Icon, A Greek icon of St John the Baptist, with footnotes #18

Unknown artist

A Greek icon of St John the Baptist, 'Slave (of God) Apostolis', late 17th century

Painted against a gilt ground

61 x 38cm; 24½ x 15 in.

Private collection

The Winged Saint shown carrying a chalice containing his own head and an open scroll. More on this Icon

John the Baptist, known as the prophet Yahya in the Qur'an, was a Jewish itinerant preacher in the early first century AD. John is revered as a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Mandaeism. He is called a prophet by all of these traditions, and honoured as a saint in many Christian traditions.

John used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement.[ Most scholars agree that John baptized Jesus. Scholars generally believe Jesus was a follower or disciple of John and several New Testament accounts report that some of Jesus' early followers had previously been followers of John. John the Baptist is also mentioned by the Jewish historian Josephus. Some scholars maintain that John was influenced by the semi-ascetic Essenes, who expected an apocalypse and practiced rituals corresponding strongly with baptism, although no direct evidence substantiates this.

According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself, and Jesus was the one whose coming John foretold. Christians commonly refer to John as the precursor or forerunner of Jesus, since John announces Jesus' coming. John is also identified with the prophet Elijah. More on John the Baptist

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I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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1 Religious Icon, Spanish School's Annunciation, with footnotes #18

Spanish School. First half of the 16th century

The Annunciation

Oil on panel

41 x 31 cm

Private collection

The Virgin appears kneeling in front of a table decorated with a red cloth with gold trim.. The arrival of the archangel has caused the Virgin to put down her book and turn her face to observe the unexpected visitor. Saint Gabriel, is in the act of approaching the Virgin. In his left hand he grasps a golden sceptre topped with a kind of fleur-de-lys: it is the messenger's staff. He extends his right arm pointing with his index and middle fingers towards the sky to emphasise the fact that the message he brings comes directly from God.

Mary brings her left hand to her chest as a sign of compliance with the divine message, while with her right she still holds a page of the book she was reading. More on this painting

The Annunciation referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking his Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son Yehoshua, meaning "YHWH is salvation".

 

According to Luke 1:26, the Annunciation occurred "in the sixth month" of Elizabeth's pregnancy. Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, an approximation of the northern vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas, the ceremonial birthday of Jesus. In England, this came to be known as Lady Day. It marked the new year until 1752. The 2nd-century writer Irenaeus of Lyon regarded the conception of Jesus as 25 March coinciding with the Passion. More The Annunciation

Spanish School, 16th Century. In the sixteenth century when Spain became a world power with vast possessions and sources of wealth in the New World, as well as possessions dotted about Europe, it might have been expected that a vigorous national school of painting would emerge, transforming the somewhat tentative or imitative character that painting in Spain had shown up to then. It turned out otherwise. For most of the 16th century, painting remained spiritless. Both the Emperor Charles V and his son Philip II of Spain were patrons with a feeling for art, but the great Venetians, especially Titian, claimed most of their interest. Philip also highly approved of the fantasies of Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516) - although the top Spanish clergy suspected heresy in these strange pictures from the Netherlands. More on Spanish School, 16th Century

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Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

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