Russian School of Mstera, XVIII century. "The Virgin of the Burning Bush". Tempera, gold leaf on panel.

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OLD MASTERS

By Setdart Auction House

Nov 3, 2021

Set Reminder 2021-11-03 08:00:00 2021-11-03 08:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : OLD MASTERS https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/setdart-auction-house/old-masters-7786
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• Lot Description
  Russian School of Mstera, XVIII century. "The Virgin of the Burning Bush". Tempera, gold leaf on panel. Measurements: 22 x 19 cm. The Virgin of the Burning Bush is one of the most complex and symbolic icons of the Marian theme in Orthodox iconography. It alludes to the homonymous passage of the Old Testament. At the symbolic level it develops different facets of Christian worship related to the appearance of Christ, based on the Old Testament stories. This iconography has been known since proto-Christian times, when the Praying Virgin was represented, or in some cases the Odigidria, enclosed in the Burning Bush, together with Moses contemplating her kneeling. In the middle of the 16th century, coinciding with the rule of Ivan the Terrible, the icon of the Virgin of the Burning Bush changed its appearance, enriched with symbols and allegories. In those times Old Russia was experiencing a significant expansion of the territory towards Siberia, Astrakhan and Kazan. Russia has become the most important Orthodox center in the world. Likewise, the Virgin and the Burning Bush came to be represented half-length, holding the Child Jesus in her arms, within a bicolor eight-point star, which is composed of two rectangles, red, symbol of the Burning Bush, and green, symbol of the growing bush, or in blue, as is the case of the auctioned icon, a less common representation, which alludes to the sky. In the corners of the red rectangle are the representations of an angel, an eagle, a lion and an ox, mentioned in the Apocalypse of St. John the Evangelist. In the case of the icon of interest, the image of the lion is partially lost, but even so it is evident that it is a canonical icon. Another theme of the icon is the service of the angels to the Mother of God, and the adoration of the heavenly powers for the miraculous birth of Christ, their images are arranged on the rays of the eight-pointed star. Among them are the archangels and the nameless angels. The border of the icon, polychrome gold, symbol of heaven and divine power, is left free of any detail, leaving the central register of the image as the main protagonist. The only detail that can be perceived is the inscription in Cyrillic - "Neopalimaya Kupina" - which in its literal translation into English means the title of the icon itself, "The Virgin of Burning Bush". This icon was produced in the workshops of Mstera, one of the most important schools of icon painting in Russia, both for the quantity and quality of its production. This village is located near Vladimir, another of the places that houses the most important school of icon painting, and the first mentions of it are dated around 1628. It was a poor location, and its inhabitants, mainly peasants, alternated their farming activities with various handicrafts to make a living. Since Mstera was surrounded by monasteries and churches, icon painting was the most common activity. Thus, by the 19th century, more than half of the population was engaged exclusively in icon painting. The specialty of this school was to follow the ancient styles, their icons stand out for the abundance of details, both in the representation of the saints and the representation of nature, but at the same time the aesthetics of the characters could be described as naive. Apart from painting the icons en masse, the masters of Mstera were first class restorers. Therefore, this great knowledge of the material allows the icons of this school to always be of a high quality.
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