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Source Description

This icon repeats a copy, ordered in 1647 and brought to Moscow the following year, of a much older, miracle-working image from the Georgian Monastery of Iveron, on Mount Athos, Greece (hence the name "Iverskaya", i.e. "of Iveron"). This copy was subsequently installed in a special chapel built in its honor in the Kremlin's Resurrection Gates, the main entrance to Red Square. It was one of the most revered icons in Moscow until the chapel that housed it was destroyed and the icon was lost in 1917.In the frame here are the 17th-century Saint Demetrius of Rostov and St. Anna, the prophetess (Luke 2:36-38). The fact that these saints are not normally depicted together suggests that they were probably the namesakes of the icon's owners. The painting is academic in style; unlike traditional, older icons, the faces of the Virgin and of Christ display a sense of depth and are realistically shaded. The silver gilt and enamel cover is a mixture of various styles, as was common in the late nineteenth century. It is stamped with the mark of Ivan Sergeevich Lebedkin, state assayer for the district of Moscow in 1899-1908. A second stamp contains the Cyrillic letters I and T, initials of the goldsmith Ivan Tarabrov. The back of the piece is covered with red velvet.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
35243
label
Virgin and Child (""The Virgin of Iviron"") with Saints Demetrius and Hannah
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
35243
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Virgin and Child (""The Virgin of Iviron"") with Saints Demetrius and Hannah
description
This icon repeats a copy, ordered in 1647 and brought to Moscow the following year, of a much older, miracle-working image from the Georgian Monastery of Iveron, on Mount Athos, Greece (hence the name "Iverskaya", i.e. "of Iveron"). This copy was subsequently installed in a special chapel built in its honor in the Kremlin's Resurrection Gates, the main entrance to Red Square. It was one of the most revered icons in Moscow until the chapel that housed it was destroyed and the icon was lost in 1917.In the frame here are the 17th-century Saint Demetrius of Rostov and St. Anna, the prophetess (Luke 2:36-38). The fact that these saints are not normally depicted together suggests that they were probably the namesakes of the icon's owners. The painting is academic in style; unlike traditional, older icons, the faces of the Virgin and of Christ display a sense of depth and are realistically shaded. The silver gilt and enamel cover is a mixture of various styles, as was common in the late nineteenth century. It is stamped with the mark of Ivan Sergeevich Lebedkin, state assayer for the district of Moscow in 1899-1908. A second stamp contains the Cyrillic letters I and T, initials of the goldsmith Ivan Tarabrov. The back of the piece is covered with red velvet.
provenance
Sale, Sotheby's, New York, [date unknown]; Celia Blank, Baltimore, after 1972, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, October 1984, by gift.
date
1899-1908 (Modern)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
icons
enamels
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
31
height
26
depth
4.9
dimensionsRaw
H: 12 3/16 × W: 10 1/4 × D: 1 15/16 in. (31 × 26 × 4.9 cm)
Source extras
cul
Russian
dynasty
House of Romanov
reign
Nicholas II (1894-1917)
med
oil on panel with gilded silver and enamel cover
creator_ids
6214
16248
collection_ids
BYZ
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
b801647b3585f8c0
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
11556640ca3a9f64
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no