Object types
painting (scope note | all objects)
oklad (all objects)
icon (scope note | all objects)
Title (object)
The Eulogy to the Mother of God (‘Pokhvala Presvyatui Bogoroditsui’)
Materials
wood (all objects)
gesso (all objects)
silver-gilt (scope note | all objects)
Techniques
painted (scope note | all objects)
gilded (scope note | all objects)
gessoed (scope note | all objects)
engraved (scope note | all objects)
embossed (scope note | all objects)
Production place
Made in Russia (scope note | all objects)
Made in Mstera (?) (all objects)
Date
17thC
19thC (restoration)
Description
Icon; painted; in the centre of the icon, within a floral ornamental silver-gilt frame, is the Virgin Mary enthroned with, above, the half-length figure of Christ raising both hands in a gesture of benediction. On either side are the 12 prophets (six on each side) holding scrolls with excerpts from their scriptures. Below, in the centre, kneels the figure of the magician Balaam. The 'oklad' is decorated with embossed floral scrolls.
Inscriptions: in Church Slavonic on the top border: ПОХВАЛА ПРЕСВЯТЫЯ БОГОРОДИЦЫ (Eulogy to the Holy Mother of God); in Greek: beside Christ's halo: ΙC ΧC (Jesus Christ); inside the halo: OWN (I am Being); in the halo of the Virgin: MP ΘV (Mother of God); all the prophets have their haloes inscribed in Church Slavonic: on the left: АВВАКУМ (Habbakuk), ГЕДЕОН (Gideon), ЗАХАРИЯ (Zachariah), МОИСЕЙ (Moses), СОЛОМОН (Solomon), ДАВИД (David); below the Virgin in the centre: ВАЛААМ (Balaam); on the right: ЗАХАРИЯ СЕРП[ОВИДЕЦ] (Zachariah of the Crescent), ИЛИЯ (Elijah), ДАНИИЛ (Daniel), ИЕЗЕКИЛЬ (Ezekiel), ИСАЙЯ (Isaiah), ИАКОВ (Jacob). On the prophets' scrolls are letters in Church Slavonic which have been taken from the scriptures. All these inscriptions are replicated on the 'oklad'.
Egg tempera, gold, gesso on wood, silver-gilt revetment .
Inscriptions
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Greek
Inscription Position: Christ's halo
Inscription Language: Greek
Inscription Comment: identifying figure
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Greek
Inscription Position: Virgin's halo
Inscription Language: Greek
Inscription Comment: identifying figure
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Cyrillic
Inscription Position: above figures
Inscription Language: Church Slavonic
Inscription Comment: identifying figures
Inscription Type: inscription
Inscription Script: Greek
Inscription Position: by Christ's halo
Inscription Language: Greek
Inscription Comment: identifying figures
Inscription Type: hallmark
Inscription Position: along bottom edge of revetment
Inscription Content: Φ:Π (unknown assay master); illegible; 84 (mark of fineness); St George and the dragon (Moscow coat of arms).
Dimensions
Height: 31.4 centimetres
Width: 27.1 centimetres
Thickness: 2.5 centimetres
Condition
Made from a single panel with ‘kovcheg’; two inserted battens on the reverse; the original was over-painted when the icon was restored and covered with the revetment.
Curator's comments
The iconography was first developed in Byzantium in the 14th century and derives from the Mariological hymns of Germanos I, Patriarch of Constantinople from 715–30, and Germanos II, Patriarch of Constantinople from 1222–40. In Byzantine art the composition was known as the ‘Tree of Jesse’ and was a metaphorical image of the genealogy of Christ based on Isaiah 11:1 and Matthew 1:1–17. The design of the Museum’s icon recalls the frescoes in the Dormition cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, dated to 1480 (Zonova 1971), and an icon from the St Cyril Belozerski monastery (dated 1550–60) (Vilinbahova and Pleshanova 1995, no. 32). The latter depicts the 12 prophets showing their prophecies on scrolls, which are dedicated to the miracle of Christ’s incarnation. Each prophet holds an attribute symbolizing the Virgin Mary: a rock (Habbakuk and Daniel), a burning bush (Moses), a temple (Solomon), the Ark of the Covenant (David), a crescent (Zachariah), closed gates (Ezekiel), flowers (Jacob), and the magician Balaam holds the star of Bethlehem. Symbolically the prophets glorify both the Mother of God as the Holy Throne and Christ Emmanuel above her.
See also cat. no. 28.
Published:
Cormack 2007, 123, no. 41
Subject
virgin and child (scope note | all objects)
prophet/sibyl (all objects)
old testament (all objects)
Associated names
Named in inscription & portrayed Zechariah (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Zachariah (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Virgin Mary (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Solomon (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Jesus Christ (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Jacob (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Isaiah, monk (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Hosea (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Habbakuk (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Gideon (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Ezekiel (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Elijah (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed King David (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Daniel (biographical details | all objects)
Named in inscription & portrayed Balaam (biographical details | all objects)
Acquisition date
1998
Acquisition name
Bequeathed by Sir Frank Kenyon Roberts (biographical details | all objects)
Collected by Cella Roberts (biographical details | all objects)
Acquisition notes
See 1998,0605.1
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