VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 1… Read more

AN ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD VENERATED BY PATRON SAINTS OF THE STROGANOV FAMILY, POSSIBLY COMMISSIONED BY MAKSIM YAKOVLEVICH STROGANOV

RUSSIAN (STROGANOV SCHOOL), CIRCA 1600; THE OKLAD, MARK OF I.GRECHUSHNIKOV, MOSCOW, 1853

Details

AN ICON OF THE MOTHER OF GOD VENERATED BY PATRON SAINTS OF THE STROGANOV FAMILY, POSSIBLY COMMISSIONED BY MAKSIM YAKOVLEVICH STROGANOV
RUSSIAN (STROGANOV SCHOOL), CIRCA 1600; THE OKLAD, MARK OF I.GRECHUSHNIKOV, MOSCOW, 1853
Seated on a tall, carved and gilded wooden throne with a matching pedestal, the Mother of God gazing at the beholder while tenderly supporting her son, his hand gesturing in benediction and holding a closed scroll; flanked by two saints at either side, to the left the Great Martyr Eufemia and the Holy Apostle Jacob, to the right St. Maksim the Confessor and St. John the Soldier; the graceful figures of the Mother of God and St. Eufemia and the robust representations of the male saints depicted in sheer sophistication; the individual faces rendered with fine brushstrokes, the drapery of the garments formed with gradations of the same colour, the hems of the Mother of God's maphorion and the armour of St. John with delicate gold ornamentation, the dense, dazzling chrysography on Christ's chiton causing him to protrude from his darker surroundings, almost appearing in relief; complimented by an elegant silver-gilt oklad embossed with elaborate quatrefoil buds and recurring scrolling foliate design on stippled ground, surrounded by a raised ribbed border
15¾ x 13 7/8 in. (40 x 35.3 cm)

Literature

Catalogue of the exhibition Golden Light. Masterpieces of the Art of the Icon Koninklijk Museum, (Antwerp, 1988), no.48

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Lot Essay

On the basis of the genealogy of the Stroganov family, the saints represented on this icon suggest that it was produced during the life of Maksim Stroganov, whose parents were Yakov and Euphemia Stroganov and son, Ivan. The Holy Martyr Eufemia and the Apostle Jacob to the left of the Mother of God are the patrons of Maksim's parents, and Sts. Maksim the Confessor and John the Soldier are the patrons of him and his son. The icon was directly inherited in the family. The inscriptions on the back of the icon record that it was given to Gregory Stroganoff by his father, Count Sergei Stroganov, on the day of his marriage to Maria, grädfin Potocki, 28 September 1856 in Moscow. Through his daughter Maria, Countess Stroganov, who married the Prince Alexei Grigorievich Shcherbatov, and had a son, Prince Vladimir Alexeevich Shcherbatov, the icon reached their granddaughter, Maria Vladimirovna, Princess Shcherbatov. In fact, the second inscription on the velvet cover of the back of the icon testifies that the grandmother, Countess Maria Stroganov, blessed her granddaughter on the day of her marriage, 15 February 1940 in Rome.

More from Icons and Artefacts From The Orthodox World

View All