Beschreibung:

POST MEDIEVAL RUSSIAN ICON OF IVERSKAYA VIRGIN AND CHILD Late 19th century AD A rectangular wooden icon with tempera painted scene of the Iverskaya Virgin and Child (И́верская икона Пресвятой Богородицы) on a rich metallic background with scales and borders, calligraphic text above the right shoulder; from a monastic school. 917 grams, 31 x 26.5cm (12 1/4 x 10 1/2"). Fine condition, vertical crack to face. Provenance From the Alexandra collection, Somerset, UK; previously acquired by a Russian art collector from Sotheby's Amsterdam in 2004; formerly acquired between 1970 and 1972 by one of the largest industrialists from East Germany, who made his fortune in selling cement to Russia, and was subsequently part paid in icons and other important works of art by the Russian government. Accompanied by an original certificate of authenticity from the Ministry of Culture, Moscow, CCCP (USSR), signed and stamped by the director of the national export department, K. Olenev; and signed by the highest ranking scientific expert, Mr E. Morozova; along with a hand written description in German, and a typed German translation of the Russian certificate by Emil J. Janucek, from the office of Terra Handels-Gesellschaft mbH. Footnotes In 1648, Patriarch Nikon of Moscow commissioned an exact copy of the famous Panaghia Portaitissa icon from Iviron monastery to be made and sent to Russia. Almost immediately upon its arrival, numerous miracles were attributed to the icon and the Iverskaya Chapel was built in 1669 to enshrine it, just next to the Kremlin walls in Moscow. According to a popular custom, everyone heading for Red Square or the Kremlin visited the chapel to pay homage at the shrine, before entering through the gate. Beggars and outlaws would pray there next to the highest royalty and even the Tsar himself. The chapel was demolished in 1931, but later completely rebuilt with a new icon replacing the lost original.