Russian school, 19th century. "The Virgin of the Milk". Tempera, gold leaf on panel.

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RUSSIAN ICONS

By Setdart Auction House

Sep 23, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-09-23 10:00:00 2021-09-23 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : RUSSIAN ICONS https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/russian-icons-7431
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• Lot Description
  Russian school, 19th century. "The Virgin of the Milk". Tempera, gold leaf on panel. Measurements: 31,5 x 18 cm. Images of the Virgin Mary suckling the Christ Child have been known in Eastern Christian art since antiquity. This theme became especially popular in post-Byzantine Italo-Greek painting. This typology has been known in Russia since 1392, and was a priori called the Mother of God of Bari, after the Italian city of Bari, from where the original icon was brought to the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin. This icon was eventually lost, but its very few later versions have survived, which form the basis of this typology of the Mother of God, to which the lot of interest belongs. This icon is executed according to the traditional canon. The seated Virgin is depicted half-length, with her face and torso rotated by three-quarters. The Child Jesus rests in his mother's arms, suckling at her breast, one of the two versions of the representation of the Child Jesus, who can also appear simply resting in her arms. The icon of interest has very particular aesthetic characteristics. Under a precise contemplation and study of the features, it could be concluded that this anonymous master was inspired by the models of the earliest icons of the Novgorod school, around the 12th century. In particular, this Mother of God has features that coincide with the features of the famous icon "Angel with golden hair" or "Archangel Michael or Gabriel", painted in Novgorod around the second half of the 12th century. Like that angel, the Virgin's eyes are exaggeratedly larger than the rest of her facial features. The outer corners of the eyes have a slight downward tendency. The upper eyelids are half closed, and half of the pupil is hidden beneath it. The lower eyelid protrudes and has a characteristic shadow. The corners of the lips have two subtle points of shadow, which create the appearance of a warm and affectionate smile. The very pronounced eyebrows, in a dark tone, create a continuous line with the nose, also marked by the dark shadow. The background of the icon is painted in a greenish tone, a tone that came into fashion especially in the 17th century for painting large backgrounds. But this does not mean that it was not used for this purpose before. For example, the icon of the archangel, mentioned above, also has a green background, in a different tone. Of course, the present lot, within the canonical aspect of the composition, has a series of very particular characteristics that make it stand out and make it a discovery of orthodox painting.
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