Russia, ca. 18th to 19th century CE. A wonderful Russian icon painted with egg tempera on wood, depicting Russian princes Boris and Gleb, the first saints bestowed with the honor of canonization in Kievan Rus following the Christianization of the country. Boris and Gleb were the younger children of Vladimir the Great, the grand prince of Kiev who is renowned for converting the land to Christianity in the year 988. Both brothers were murdered during the internecine wars (1015-1019). According to lore, their remnants performed miracles. Hence, both were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in Rus in 1071. A similar composition depicting Boris and Gleb dressed in regal vestments riding together on horseback dating to the 1st half of the 14th century, clearly the inspiration for this example, is in the collection of The State Tretyakov Gallery. The Tretyakov Gallery's description of this beautiful icon reads as follows, "Princes Boris and Gleb were the younger sons of Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev. Soon after the death of their father in 1015, they were cruelly murdered by their elder brother Svyatopolk, who was eliminating rivals in his fight to take over the throne of Kiev. In the «Life and death of… Boris and Gleb» by the chronicler Nestor (1070–80s) there is a story about how prisoners in a jail called upon these princes for help and they appeared on horseback. This monument is the earliest of the surviving icons of this type of iconography. The icon of «Boris and Gleb on horseback» is one of the first discovered at the beginning of the century. It immediately became widely known. The icon was the subject of a lengthy academic polemic. For a long time it was considered to come from Moscow, and since it was associated with the Church of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin there was a logic to this provenance. But the stylistic peculiarities of the icon forced scholars to appreciate its roots in Pskov painting of the early period and this opinion has predominated among specialists in art history in recent years. A confirmation of this view may also be found in chronicle sources, which speak of the participation of Pskov masters (stone masons and icon painters) in building and decorating the churches of the Moscow Kremlin." (www.tretyakovgallery.ru/en/collection/_show/image/_id/2636)

A wonderful example inspired by one of the most beloved depictions of these cherished saint brothers on horseback. Evidence of former back slats dates this piece before the 1880s. Size: 14.125" L x 10" W (35.9 cm x 25.4 cm)

Provenance: Ex- Estate of M. Reiniger, Chicago, IL

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#111524

Intact with minor wear to peripheries. Painting shows some crazing and minor losses. Missing back slats with chips on back side. Overall a very good example.