icon
- Museum number
- 1998,1105.9
- Title
- Object: Icon with St Athanasios and St Demetrios
- Description
-
Icon painted with egg tempera and with gold leaf on wood prepared with cloth and gesso. It must have been originally part of a triptych. The half-length saint at the top is identified in Greek red script as St Athanasios. He wears a red omophorion and hold a Gospel book in his left hand (protected from his touch by his garment) and holds his right hand up in a gesture of blessing. Below, St Demetrios, also identified by a red inscription, is mounted on a red horse. He wears a cuirass and billowing cloak, and plunges his lance into a figure below. The back is unpainted, and has a blue Temple Gallery labels, dating it to 9th to 17th century.
- Production date
- 18thC (late)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 240 millimetres (without frame)
-
Width: 95 millimetres (without frame)
- $Inscriptions
-
-
- Curator's comments
- This has been attributed here to the late 18th century, as has catalogue 88. Further research is needed to decide whether 87 and 88 might originally have belonged together as wings of the same triptych. The ground of this wing is in gold, whereas the ground of 88 is unusually (now) blue.
Literature
R. Cormack, Icons, London, 2007 (repr. 2014), 134, no. 87.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Some of the gold leaf is lost and there is damage around the edges.
- Acquisition date
- 1998
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1998,1105.9
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: IC 90 (Icon Collection number)
