17th century A.D. An Orthodox wooden icon with a slightly curved profile, polychrome painted scene depicting the Holy Trinity with Jesus Christ to the left, God the Father to the right and the Holy Spirit above them depicted as a dove; both figures nimbate, dressed in gold and brocade, their hands resting on a large globus cruciger, a jewelled Gospel beneath the hand of Christ; each corner with a symbol of the Evangelists: angel, ox, eagle and lion with Greek inscriptions around them: near the nimbus of Jesus the Greek letters 'IC' (Iesus) 'XC' (Christos), inside the halo three letters representing the continuous divine self-existence of Christ as God (O ?N = The Only One who always exists); above the head of the dove an abbreviated Greek inscription for '? ???? ??????' (The Holy Trinity). See Rothemund, B., Handbuch der Ikonenkunst, Munich 1966, p.204, for the well consolidated icon of the New Testament Holy Trinity; Chatzidakis, N. (ed.), Da Candia a Venezia: Icone Greche in Italia, XV-XVI secolo, Athens, 1993, p.185, cat.47; Staikos, K. (ed.), ‘The Holy Trinity’ in From the Incarnation of Logos to the Theosis of Man: Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Icons From Greece, Psychiko, 2008, p.50, cat.no.22. 2.1 kg, 44 x 32 cm (17 1/4 x 12 1/2 in."). Charterhouse auctioneers, Sherborne, Dorset, UK. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK, formed since 1985. The New Testament Trinity derives from two Biblical passages: Mark 16:19 and Luke 22:69. The latter reads: 'But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God' (Luke 22:69). Our icon illustrates this Biblical phrase in a literal sense. The icon shows in an impressive way the Orthodox iconography of the Holy Trinity, and the power of God. The Trinity is seated upon a throne of Cherubins, whose red faces are visible on the background. The globe, symbol of God’s power upon the world and the universe, is surmounted by a cross, like the small globes visible in the hands of the earthly medieval emperors. The blessing gesture of the left hand of the Father represents a sort of Divine Investiture of the Son (three raised fingers representing the Divine Nature of Christ, two lowered fingers representing the Human Nature of the Incarnation). The gold and brocade mantles and tunics are an echo of the oriental silk used in the Levant and Ottoman Empire during that period. The timber to the reverse shows some old insect flight holes and we are advised that this piece has been recently treated with Permthrin, as a precaution.

Fair condition.