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Russia, ca. 19th century CE. Four images of the Mother of God icon, each presenting a slight variation on the theme, with a Crucifixion between the lower pair, the severed head of John the Baptist between the upper pair, three angels enjoying the hospitality of Abraham above, and six saints occupying the side borders – all finely delineated in egg tempera and gold leaf on wood. Size: 10.5" W x 12.5" H (26.7 cm x 31.8 cm)

The iconography of this icon is particularly complex, including four Virgin and Child depictions, a Crucifixion with God the Father above, the skull and crossbones on Golgotha below, a mourning figure, the head of John the Baptist, and the three angel pilgrims of the Old Testament who appeared to Abraham and Sarah. The symbolism of John the Baptist is multilayered, as he is regarded as the Angel of the Desert who baptized his disciples in the waters of the River Jordan, the final and greatest of Old Testament prophets as well as the first saint, and the forerunner of Jesus Christ. Imagery of his severed head stems from when King Herod beheaded John the Baptist to please Salome, daughter of Herodias, the king’s lover (as well as his brother’s wife) whom John the Baptist had reproached for her adultery. The presence of the Baptist as well as the Trinity – referring to the three pilgrims served by the humble Abraham and Sarah in their tent, this image made famous by the monk painter Andrei Rublev – present wonderful parallels between the Old and New Testaments.

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) 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.

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). 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

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#119523

Minor surface wear to image with a few losses to pigment as shown. Some stable fissures and losses to wood on verso and peripheries. Mint Museum exhibition label on verso.