RUSSIAN, 17TH CENTURY

Details

THE MANDYLION
RUSSIAN, 17TH CENTURY
The face of Christ impressed on an undecorated cloth with its two upper corners knotted, the only additions being the rim of the halo, Christ's abbreviated name and the Greek title of the represented subject written in Cyrillic characters; with slightly squinted eyes, Christ's melancholic gaze directed towards the beholder, his realistic features devoid of sharp outlines, instead modelled with a variety of shades; the preparatory base of the flesh painted in olive, the shape and volume of the characteristics defined with red and beige hues, the shadows in tones of brown; the parted, shoulder-length hair and smooth, short beard depicted in saturated brown; the Mandylion set against a densely dark background, thus looking exaggeratedly dramatic; the fine silver-gilt oklad emulating the pattern of the Manylion beneath, the edge around Christ's face beaded, the border embossed with alternate rosette-and-leaf motif, an inscription on the raised plate in the bottom
15 x 11 5/8 in. (38.1 x 29.6 cm)

Provenance

Purchased by the present owner from the Ikonen Galerie Wedmenew, Berlin, in 1984.

Literature

Published in G. Arndt, Ikonen aus Privaten Sammlungen (Köln, 1986), no.43
This lot is accompanied by an expertise written by Heinz Skrobucha, dated 8 August 1984; and another by Dr. Reiner Zerlin, dated 16 April 1987.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Catalogue Notes
This lot is directly related, both iconographically and stylistically, to a larger panel (55 x 44 cm) of the same subject, attributed to Simon Ushakov, kept in the Collection of the Theological Academy of The Trinity Monastery of St. Sergei, Moscow. See, D. Spanke, Das Mandylion: Ikonographie, Legenden und Bildtheorie der Nicht-von-Menschenhand-gemachten Christusbilder (Recklinghausen, 2000), p.17

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