The Temple Gallery

A001. Virgin of Tikhvin. 

Russian (Northern), circa 1600
84.5 x 75 cm
£6,850 [Sold]

Provenance:
Eileen and Eric Bradley Collection
(http://www.templegallery.com/main.php?mode=6&p1=ericbradley)

Exhibited:
Basel, Kunsthalle Ikonen, April-May 1952
Paris, Fondation Bismark, Exposition d’icônes, 1988
Temple Gallery, 1996.

Published:
Paris, Fondation Bismark, Exposition d’icônes, 1988, illustrated p. 89
Imperial and Post-Revolutionary Russian Art and Icons, Christie’s catalogue,
December 1995, No. 356.
Crawthorne, N. The Art of the Icon, Hamlyn, 2000, p. 83.

[ Click on any image for a larger view ]

Condition:
7 cm. curvature to the panel. Paint losses on the left-hand and lower border. Some retouching along restored vertical splits in the panel and on the Virgin’s maphorian.

The iconography of the Tikhvin Mother of God (that protected the city of that name) has a long history. It developed in Russia in the 15th century as a variant of the more formal ‘Smolensk’ Mother of God which, in its turn, derived from the 10th century Byzantine prototype known as ‘Hodegetria’. Like the Hodegetria (meaning ‘the guide’) the Mother of God directs our attention towards Christ by the gesture of her right hand. The Virgin’s inward and contemplative look was an expression developed in Moscow in the mid-16th century.

Detail Images