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Russia, ca. 18th century CE. An icon for the feast of Theophany, skillfully painted in egg tempera and gold leaf on wood, depicting the baptism of Christ in the Jordan River by St. John the Forerunner (St. John the Baptist in the West). Rendered in traditional Byzantine style, with its relatively flat surfaces and extremely stylized background, this icon would have appealed to Old Believers. Note how the banks of the River Jordan are presented as rocky hillsides and the river itself is dramatically vertical. Size: 12.5" W x 14" H (31.8 cm x 35.6 cm)

According to the Bible, a voice from heaven proclaimed that Christ was the Son of God during this baptism. In fact, the word Theophany, from the Greek theophaneia, actually means the appearance of God to man. In this composition, John the Forerunner stands on the left bank of the river facing Christ and placing his hand upon Christ's head as he stands nude in the water giving benediction with his right hand; three angels on the right bank gently bow toward Christ and reverently hold billowing fabrics over their hands (in Eastern Orthodoxy this is a sign of touching something sacred). In addition, all three members of the Holy Trinity are present on the icon; God the Father (top center); the Holy Spirit, who appears as a dove in a ray of light descending from heaven to Christ; and Christ.

Exhibited in "Windows Into Heaven: Russian Icons from the Lilly and Francis Robicsek Collection of Religious Art" at the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina (December 20, 2003 through February 22, 2004) and the North Carolina Museum of History (October 4, 2013 through March 5, 2014) which presented highlights of one of the world's great artistic traditions through an extraordinary group of sixty-five 18th and 19th century Russian icons on loan from the private collection of Lilly and Francis Robicsek. Published in the catalogue accompanying the North Carolina Museum of History exhibition by curator Jeanne Marie Warzeski (p. 13).

Icons (icon means "image" in Greek) are sacred objects within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. Found in homes as well as churches, these painted images depict holy persons and saints as well as illustrate scenes from the Scriptures. Some icons are encased in precious metal covers (oklads) adorned with pearls and semi-precious stones or glass-fronted wooden cases (kiots). Some are framed with ornate silver basmas. This icon is embellished with a striking inner painted/gilded floral border. Icons are not worshiped, but are instead venerated for their ability to focus the power of an individual's prayer to God. As such they are truly "windows into heaven."

The “Windows Into Heaven” exhibition profiled a magnificent chapter of Russian artistry, the embrace of the Russian Orthodox faith of religious icons during the Romanov centuries. The Russian religious faith was an offshoot of Byzantine Christianity, which in 1054 parted ways from Roman Catholicism. Icons were and continue to be religious images created for veneration. As a focus for prayers and meditation for believers, icons serve as “windows into heaven.”



Provenance: Ex-Francis & Lilly Robicsek Collection, Charlotte, NC, part of the Museum Exhibition, Windows into Heaven - Russian Icons from the Lilly and Francis Robicsek Collection of Religious Art, North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC. Published in the catalogue accompanying the North Carolina Museum of History exhibition (p. 13).

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#119421

A few small losses to peripheries. Surface shows some fissures and losses to pigment and gold leaf. Crossbars remain on verso. Visible perforation, minor wear, and wire for suspension on verso.