01 Religious Icon, MOTHER OF GOD "MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD, with footnotes #28

Ivan Fedorov, Moscow

MOTHER OF GOD "MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD"

Tempera on panel, silver oklad

12 1/2 x 10 in., 32 x 25.5 cm

Private collection

This icon with the Virgin enthroned in an oval reserve holding a book open to the words of the Magnificat in Cyrillic reading "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior," the silver oklad chased and repoussé with Neo-classical ornament, struck with mark of assayer Aleksei Vikhliaev, the Cyrillic initials AOP of an unidentified alderman, and Cyrillic initials IF, possibly for Ivan Fedorov, Moscow, 1797; the halo with seraphim and crown, with maker's marks obscured, Moscow, 1899-1908. More on this icon

Ivan Fyodorov was one of the fathers of Eastern Slavonic printing, he was the first known Russian printer in Moscow and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, he was also a skilled cannon maker and the inventor of a multibarreled mortar. More on Ivan Fedorov

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2 Religious Icons, Barnaba da Modena and Veneto-Cretan Icons of the Madonna and Child, with footnotes #27

Barnaba da Modena  (1328–1386)

Madonna and Child, c. 1370s

Tempera on panel

height: 109 cm (42.9 in); width: 72 cm (28.3 in)

Louvre Museum

The panel, probably originally rectangular, was cut at the top following the profile of the moldings in relief. Central element of a polyptych.

The Nursing Madonna, Virgo Lactans, or Madonna Lactans, is an iconography of the Madonna and Child in which the Virgin Mary is shown breastfeeding the infant Jesus. In Italian it is called the Madonna del Latte ("Madonna of milk"). It was a common type in painting until the change in atmosphere after the Council of Trent, in which it was rather discouraged by the church, at least in public contexts, on grounds of propriety.

The depiction is mentioned by Pope Gregory the Great, and a mosaic depiction probably of the 12th century is on the facade of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, though few other examples survive from before the late Middle Ages. It continued to be found in Orthodox icons (as Galaktotrophousa in Greek, Mlekopitatelnitsa in Russian), especially in Russia. More on The Nursing Madonna

Barnaba da Modena (c. 1328-c.1386) was a mid-14th-century Italian painter who painted in the style of Byzantine art. He is considered the first Lombard painter of note and was active in Lombardy, Piedmont, and Pisa in Tuscany.

As his name indicates, the artist was a native of Modena (Emilia). The first records regarding Barnaba date to 1361 and 1362 when he had already become a Genoese citizen and was hiring Tuscan assistants. His earliest dated paintings relate to his activities in Genoa. He produced paintings for the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa in 1364. His earliest known painting is a polyptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints (Palazzo Bianco, Genoa), which combines the Gothic style of Tuscan polyptychs with Emilian design. Another work, a Virgin and Child (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), shows the influence of Sienese painting in the rounded faces and the gold-striated highlights on Mary's mantle. More on Barnaba da Modena

Unidentified Veneto-Cretan artist

MOTHER OF GOD GALAKTOTROPHOUSA/ Nursing Madonna, c. 17th

Tempera on panel

34cm, 15¾ by 13⅜in.

Private collection

Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, under the umbrella of post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian rule during the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall of Constantinople, becoming the central force in Greek painting during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The Cretan artists developed a particular style of painting under the influence of both Eastern and Western artistic traditions and movements; the most famous product of the school, El Greco, was the most successful of the many artists who tried to build a career in Western Europe, and also the one who left the Byzantine style farthest behind him in his later career. More on Cretan School

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01 Russian Icon, An icon of St Euthymios the Great, with footnotes #58

Unknown iconographer

An icon of St Euthymios the Great, Greece, first half 17th century

Tempera on panel

90 by 55.5 cm, 35 2/5 by 21 4/5in.

Private collection

St. Euthymius the Great, (born 377, Melitene, Armenia—died January 20, 473, Palestinian desert, northeast of Jerusalem; feast day January 20), ascetic and one of the great fathers of Eastern Orthodox monasticism, who established religious communities throughout Palestine.

Orphaned in his youth, Euthymius was educated and later ordained priest by Bishop Otreus of Melitene. He was charged with the spiritual care of the ascetics and monasteries of the city, but in 406 he left for Palestine in search of solitude. Joining the monastery of Pharan, near Jerusalem, he befriended St. Theoctistus, and about 411 they retired to a cave in the wilderness beyond Jerusalem. On being joined by others, they established a cenobitic (“communal”) monastery, or laura, that integrated contemplative life with other liturgical and intellectual projects and work done in common.

Euthymius moved on with a small band and set up similar communities, one on the west bank of the Dead Sea, another farther west in the desert of Ziph, and a larger community northeast of Jerusalem, toward Jericho. This last foundation was named after Euthymius, and its church was dedicated by Bishop Juvenal of Jerusalem in 429.

Euthymius converted many nomad Saracens to the Orthodox Church. He was often consulted on theological questions by the Eastern bishops and participated in formulating the decrees of the Council of Ephesus (431) against the Nestorian heresy. He also contributed to the Council of Chalcedon (451) in refuting the heretical monophysites. Euthymius is credited with disseminating orthodox Christological doctrine throughout Palestinian monasticism, overcoming defamations by his theological adversaries. By his influence the Byzantine empress Eudoxia became convinced that monophysitism was in error and withdrew support from its chief proponent, Abbot Eutyches of Constantinople. More on St. Euthymius the Great

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1 Religious Icon, Bernard van Orley's THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, with footnotes #26

Circle of Bernard van Orley

THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

Oil on panel

36.2 by 26.1 cm.; 14 1/4 by 10 1/4 in.

Private collection

This is one of a number of versions of the composition, the finest of which is a picture formerly in the collection of Friedrich Glück, Budapest, considered by Baldass to be by Van Orley before 1520.1 A workshop version is in the Royal Collection (L. Campbell, The Early Flemish Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge 1985, p. 105, no. 66, reproduced plate 78; inv. 1003). Van Orley’s original is in the Prince of Wied collection, Munic. More on this work

Bernard van Orley (between 1487 and 1491 – 6 January 1541), , was a leading artist in Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, though he was at least as active as a leading designer of Brussels tapestry and, at the end of his life, stained glass. Although he never visited Italy, he belongs to the group of Italianizing Flemish painters called the Romanists, who were influenced by Italian Renaissance painting, in his case especially by Raphael.

He was born and died in Brussels, and was the court artist of the Habsburg rulers, and "served as a sort of commissioner of the arts for the Brussels town council". He was extremely productive, concentrating on the design of his works, and leaving their actual execution largely to others in the case of painting.

Accordingly, his many surviving works (somewhat depleted in number by Reformation iconoclasm) vary considerably in quality. His paintings are generally either religious subjects or portraits, these mostly of Habsburgs repeated in several versions by the workshop, with few mythological subjects. More on Bernard van Orley

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1 Religious Icon, DUTCH MASTER's Crowning of Mary, with footnotes #25

DUTCH MASTER

Crowning of Mary

Oil/tempera on oak. Parqueted

78 x 51cm. 

Private collection

Surrounded by a cloud aureole God the Father (to the left) and Christ (to the right) are sitting on a throne bank with high rests. God the Father is dressed in a coat of brocade and has a tiara on his head. Christ wears a green-lined red coat and holds the globe in his left hand. Together they hold the crown above Mary's head who is kneeling in between them, her hands clasped for prayer. In this way she is crowned Queen of Heaven. Behind the throne bank there are two angels observing what is going on. In the upper margin of the painting there is the dove of the Holy Spirit which, together with God the Father and Christ represents the Holy Trinity. All of the flesh tones are overall in a good condition. The background shows a condition, which makes presume a former pressed brocade application. The rather curious rests of the throne also support this presumption, because they would fit more organically into such an original context. The entire colouring of the work shows a harmonic character which is typical for this time. The painting might be a section of a formerly large retable. More on this work

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1 Religious Icon, 19th C. St. John the Baptist & Head, with footnotes #24

Eastern Europe, Russia, 19th century CE. Icon

St. John the Baptist & Head

Egg tempera and gold leaf on wood

17.5" W x 43.75" H (44.4 cm x 111.1 cm)

Private collection

A winged St. John the Baptist holding a scroll as well as his severed head on a platter, with God the Father above. The wings occupy a large part of the composition and bestow John the Baptist's body with an otherworldly, celestial dimension. The artist painstakingly delineated the feathered wings in various neutral earthtones with black and white highlights, creating a rich sense of depth. This attention to detail is also visible on this camel-hair tunic and blue-green himation. The white strokes dramatically highlighting these vestments symbolize the spiritual energy of divine light. On the scroll are the words, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world," and "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (John 1:29, Matthew 3:2). A large golden halo encircles his visage cascading past his beard and shoulders. More on this icon

John the Baptist (sometimes called John in the Wilderness; also referred to as the Angel of the Desert) was the subject of at least eight paintings by the Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610).

The story of John the Baptist is told in the Gospels. John was the cousin of Jesus, and his calling was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. He lived in the wilderness of Judea between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, "his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey." He baptised Jesus in the Jordan.

According to the Bible, King Herod's daughter Salome requested Saint John the Baptist's beheading. She was prompted by her mother, Herodias, who sought revenge, because the prophet had condemned her incestuous marriage to Herod. More John the Baptist

The Eastern Orthodox Church subscribes to a belief in the intercession of saints. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition every individual is named in honor of a specific saint when baptized, and this saint is regarded as a patron for the person's entire life. In addition, there are patron saints of activities and occupations, ailments and dangers, as well as locales.

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01 Religious Icon, 19th C. Russian Icon, St. Seraphim of Sarov, with footnotes #23

19th C. Russian Icon

St. Seraphim of Sarov

Egg tempera and gold leaf on wood

4.375" W x 5.375" H (11.1 cm x 13.7 cm)

Private collection

St. Seraphim of Sarov blesses himself before his icon of the Mother of God hanging in the tree above. At his feet are a hat, bread sack, gloves, and axe. The strongly modeled visage as well as the perspectival background suggest that the painter was very much influenced by Western art. The borders are meticulously incised and painted to simulate enamel. More on this Icon

Saint Seraphim of Sarov (1 August 1754 (or 1759) – 14 January 1833), born Prokhor Moshnin, is one of the most renowned Russian saints in the Eastern Orthodox Church. He is generally considered the greatest of the 19th-century (elders. Seraphim extended the monastic teachings of contemplation, theoria and self-denial to the layperson. He taught that the purpose of the Christian life was to acquire the Holy Spirit. Perhaps his most popular quotation amongst Orthodox believers is "Acquire a peaceful spirit, and thousands around you will be saved."

Seraphim was glorified (canonized) by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1903. Pope John Paul II referred to him as a saint. More on St. Seraphim of Sarov

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