ICONS FROM THE

ORTHODOX WORLD

Front Cover Illustration:Detail, Nativity No. 10

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ICONS FROM THEORTHODOX WORLD(A PRIVATE COLLECTION)

June 2013

1- FORWARD 5

2- INTRODUCTION 6

3- BYZANTINE 19

4- CRETO-VENETIAN & GREEK ICONS 35

5- MEDIEVAL AND LATER 111

CONTENTS

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The icons and artifacts compiled in this catalogue are part of mypersonal collection. fifty years were spent with great endeavour andpassion, seeking, discovering, studying, restoring and researching thiswonderful art that was canonised with faith, belief and love of thosewho produced it.

I have handled hundreds of icons, but kept few, most of theimportant art acquired by me along the span of time, are now inmuseums and private collections, few are illustrated on the first pagesof this catalogue.

My gratitude goes to those who appreciate the unique and sacrediconography of the eastern orthodox world, for those who held andguarded their treasures to future generations, also for the academicsand restorers that made it possible to appreciate more its history andbeauty.

H.K.KORBAN

FORWARD

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An icon (from Greek eikwn-image) is a religious work of art, mostcommonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain EasternCatholic churches. More broadly the term is used in a wide number of contextsfor an image, picture, or representation; it is a sign or likeness that stands foran object by signifying or representing it either concretely or by analogy, as insemiotics; by extension, icon is also used, particularly in modern culture, in thegeneral sense of symbol - i.e. a name, face, picture, edifice or even a personreadily recognized as having some well-known significance or embodyingcertain qualities: one thing, an image or depiction, that represents somethingelse of greater significance through literal or figurative meaning, usuallyassociated with religious, cultural, political, or economic standing.

Throughout history, various religious cultures have been inspired orsupplemented by concrete images, whether in two dimensions or three. Thedegree to which images are used or permitted, and their functions - whetherthey are for instruction or inspiration, treated as sacred objects of veneration orworship, or simply applied as ornament - depend upon the tenets of a givenreligion in a given place and time.

In Eastern Christianity and other icon-painting Christian traditions, the iconis generally a flat panel painting depicting a holy being or object such as Jesus,Mary, saints, angels, or the cross. Icons may also be cast in metal, carved instone, embroidered on cloth, painted on wood, done in mosaic or fresco work,printed on paper or metal, etc. Creating free-standing, three-dimensionalsculptures of holy figures was resisted by Christians for many centuries, out ofthe belief that daimones inhabited pagan sculptures, and also to make a cleardistinction between Christian and pagan art. To this day, in obedience to thecommandment not to make - graven images”, Orthodox icons may never bemore than three-quarter bas relief. Comparable images from WesternChristianity are generally not described as - icons”, although - iconic” may beused to describe a static style of devotional image.

INTRODUCTION

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Although there are earlier records of their use, no panel icons earlier thanthe few from the 6th century preserved at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St.Catherine at Sinai survive. The surviving evidence for the earliest depictionsof Christ, Mary and saints therefore comes from wall-paintings, mosaics andsome carvings. They are realistic in appearance, in contrast to the laterstylization. They are broadly similar in style, though often much superior inquality, to the mummy portraits done in wax (encaustic) and found at Fayyumin Egypt. As we may judge from such items, the first depictions of Jesus weregeneric rather than portrait images, generally representing him as a beardlessyoung man. It was some time before the earliest examples of the long-haired,bearded face that was later to become standardized as the image of Jesusappeared. When they did begin to appear there was still variation. Augustineof Hippo (354-430) said that no one knew the appearance of Jesus or that ofMary. However, Augustine was not a resident of the Holy Land and thereforewas not familiar with the local populations and their oral traditions. Gradually,paintings of Jesus took on characteristics of portrait images.

At this time the manner of depicting Jesus was not yet uniform, and therewas some controversy over which of the two most common icons was to befavored. The first or “Semitic” form showed Jesus with short and “frizzy” hair;the second showed a bearded Jesus with hair parted in the middle, the mannerin which the god Zeus was depicted. Theodorus Lector remarked that of thetwo, the one with short and frizzy hair was “more authentic”. To support hisassertion, he relates a story (excerpted by John of Damascus) that a pagancommissioned to paint an image of Jesus used the “Zeus” form instead of the“Semitic” form, and that as punishment his hands withered.

Though their development was gradual, we can date the full-blownappearance and general ecclesiastical (as opposed to simply popular or local)acceptance of Christian images as venerated and miracle-working objects to the6th century, when, as Hans Belting writes, “we first hear of the church’s use ofreligious images.” “As we reach the second half of the sixth century, we find thatimages are attracting direct veneration and some of them are credited with theperformance of miracles” Cyril Mango writes, “In the post-Justinianic period theicon assumes an ever increasing role in popular devotion, and there is aproliferation of miracle stories connected with icons, some of them rathershocking to our eyes”. However, the earlier references by Eusebius and Irenaeusindicate veneration of images and reported miracles associated with them asearly as the 2nd century. What might be shocking to our contemporary eyes maynot have been viewed as such by the early Christians. Acts 5:15 reports that“people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so thatat least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”

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Today icons are used particularly among Eastern Orthodox, OrientalOrthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches.

Of the icon painting tradition that developed in Byzantium, withConstantinople as the chief city, we have only a few icons from the 11thcentury and none preceding them, in part because of the Iconoclastic reformsduring which many were destroyed, and also because of plundering byVenetians in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, and finally the taking of the cityby the Islamic Turks in 1453.

It was only in the Comnenian period (1081-1185) that the cult of the iconbecame widespread in the Byzantine world, partly on account of the dearth ofricher materials (such as mosaics, ivory, and enamels), but also because aniconostasis a special screen for icons was introduced then in ecclesiasticalpractice. The style of the time was severe, hieratic and distant.

In the late Comnenian period this severity softened, and emotion, formerlyavoided, entered icon painting. Major monuments for this change include themurals at Daphni (ca. 1100) and Nerezi near Skopje (1164). The Theotokos ofVladimir (ca. 1115) is probably the most representative example of the newtrend towards spirituality and emotion.

The tendency toward emotionalism in icons continued in the Paleologanperiod, which began in 1261. Paleologan art reached its pinnacle in mosaicssuch as those of the Kariye Camii (the former Chora Monastery). In the lasthalf of the 14th century, Paleologan saints were painted in an exaggeratedmanner, very slim and in contorted positions, that is, in a style known as thePaleologan Mannerism, of which Ochrid’s Annunciation is a superb example.

After 1453, the Byzantine tradition was carried on in regions previouslyinfluenced by its religion and culture ó in the Balkans and Russia, Georgia inthe caucasus, and, in the Greek-speaking realm, on Crete.

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PREVIOUSLY OWNED ICONS

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Three Fathers of the Church, Byzantine, 14th c.(private collection)

Byzantine, Paleologue, 14thc. (detail from Entry to Jerusalem)

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Crucifixion, Byzantine, 14th century

Hodegitria Mother of God. Byzantine 15th c.

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St.George, Angelos Akotantos, 15th century

Hodigitria Mother of God, Byzantine 15thc

The Virgin & Child with two Angels, signed Victor,17thc

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The Nativity of Christ, Cretan , c.1480.

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Gold Medallion, Byzantine, 6th-7th c.AD.British Museum(obverse)

Medallion(reverse)

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Diptych with the cycle of Jesus, Venetian, circa 1320

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Byzantine art is the art of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire formedafter the division of the Roman Empire between Eastern and Western halves,and sometimes of parts of Italy under Byzantine rule. It emerges from the LateAntique period in about 500 and soon formed a tradition distinct from that ofCatholic Europe but with great influence over it. In the early medieval periodthe best Byzantine art, often from the large Imperial workshops, represented anideal of sophistication and technique which European patrons tried to emulate.During the period of Byzantine iconoclasm in 730-843 the vast majority oficons (sacred images usually painted on wood) were destroyed; so littleremains that today any discovery sheds new understanding and most remainingworks are in Italy (Rome and Ravenna etc.), or Egypt at Saint Catherine’sMonastery, Mount Sinai.

Byzantine art was extremely conservative, for religious and cultural reasons,but retained a continuous tradition of Greek realism, which contended with astrong anti-realist and hieratic impulse. After the resumption of iconproduction in 843 until 1453 the Byzantine art tradition continued withrelatively few changes, despite, or because of, the slow decline of the Empire.There was a notable revival of classical style In works of 10th century court artlike the Paris Psalter, and throughout the period manuscript illumination showsparallel styles, often used by the same artist, for iconic figures in framedminiatures and more informal small scenes or figures added unframed in themargins of the text in a much more realist style.

Monumental sculpture with figures remained a taboo in Byzantine art;hardly any exceptions are known. But small ivory reliefs, almost all in theiconic mode (the Harbaville Triptych is of similar date to the Paris Psalter, butvery different in style), were a speciality, as was relief decoration on bowls andother metal objects. The Byzantine Empire produced much of the finest art ofthe Middle Ages in terms of quality of material and workmanship, with courtproduction centred on Constantinople, although some art historians havequestioned the assumption, still commonly made, that all work of the bestquality with no indication as to origin was produced in the capital. Byzantineart’s crowning achievement were the monumental frescos and mosaics insidedomed churches, most of which have not survived due to natural disasters andthe appropriation of churches to mosques.

BYZANTINE ART

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Byzantine art exercised a continuous trickle of influence on WesternEuropean art, and the splendours of the Byzantine court and monasteries, evenat the end of the Empire, provided a model for Western rulers and secular andclerical patrons. For example Byzantine silk textiles, often woven orembroidered with designs of both animal and human figures, the former oftenreflecting traditions originating much further east, were unexcelled in theChristian world until almost the end of the Empire. These were produced, butprobably not entirely so, in Imperial workshops in Constantinople, aboutwhose operations we know next to nothing similar workshops are oftenconjectured for other arts, with even less evidence.

BYZANTINE ICONS

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1- Coptic textile. Orans FigureEgypt, 4-6th century AD.

48x32cmOrans (Latin, Praying), Orant or Orante is a figure in art withextended arms or bodilyattitude of prayer, usually standing, with the elbows close to the sides of the the bodyand with the hands outstretched sideways, palms up.It was common in early Chrisianity and can frequently be seen in early Christianity andcan frequently be seen in early Christian art figure.

Christies sale, London

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2- St John the Youngest.Mosaic, Syro Aramaic, 5-7th century AD.

60x59cm

Moquimum Edessa Mosaic

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3- The Baptism of Christ,Asia Minor, 13th century AD.

29x20 cm

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4- Saint Theodosia of ConstantinopleAsia Minor, 14th Century

32.5x24.5 cmShown half-length in a dark green nuns habit the folds delineated in black, a wimple ofa paler green around her neck, her head covered with distinctive black cowl, she holdsam ornate white martyr’s cross, her left hand with the palm raised in a gesture ofsupplication, the slightly raised border with a double band in two tones of red; the fleshareas in orange tones over a translucent green underpaint and with lightly applied whitehighlights, the lips heightened with red; the background exposing the gesso.

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5. The Deisis,Mainland Greece, c140027x24 cm

The central panel with theSaviour resting on two cushionsseated on a wooden throne with acurved back and gothic terminals,He wears a blue imation ansupports the closed Gospels in hisleft knee whilst holding themwith his corresponding hand, heblesses with his right; the leavespainted in two parts, the upperparts with the half-length figuresof the Virgin and St. John theBaptist, the lowers parts withimages of Ss. Peter and Paul, thehaloes incised into the goldground, with carved rope-twistborders.

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6. Saint George Slaying the Dragon,Greek, 15th Century

24x20cmPainted on a gold ground, the warrior saint astride a white charger trampling the dragonbelow and transfixing it with his lance, the boy George shown seated behind him, thedeep raised border with traces of nail holes.

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Cretan School describes an important school of icon painting, also knownas Post-Byzantine art, which flourished while Crete was under Venetian ruleduring the late Middle Ages, reaching its climax after the Fall ofConstantinople, becoming the central force in Greek painting during the 15th,16th and 17th centuries. The Cretan artists developed a particular style ofpainting under the influence of both Eastern and Western artistic traditions andmovements.

There was a substantial demand for Byzantine icons in Europe throughoutthe Middle Ages and, as a Venetian possession since 1204, Crete had a naturaladvantage and soon came to dominate the supply. A probable early example isthe famous icon of the Virgin in Rome known as Our Mother of PerpetualHelp, which was certainly well known in Rome by 1499. At this date there islittle to distinguish Cretan work from other Byzantine icons stylistically, andthe quality of work is lower than that associated with Constantinople.

This period also saw considerable numbers of wall-paintings in localchurches and monasteries - altogether some 850 from the 14th and 15thcenturies survive in Crete, far more than from earlier or later periods.

By the late 15th century, Cretan artists had established a distinct icon-painting style, distinguished by “the precise outlines, the modelling of the fleshwith dark brown underpaint and dense tiny highlights on the cheeks of thefaces, the bright colours in the garments, the geometrical treatment of thedrapery, and, finally the balanced articulation of the composition”, or “sharpcontours, slim silhouettes, linear draperies and restrained movements”.

The most famous artist of the period was Andreas Ritzos (c. 1421-1492),whose son Nicholas was also well-known. Angelos Akotantos, until recentlythought to be a conservative painter of the 17th century, is now, after thediscovery of a will dated 1436, seen to have been an innovative artist in fusingByzantine and Western styles, who survived until about 1457, when the willwas actually registered. Interestingly, the will was made in anticipation of avoyage to Constantinople; several icons were bequeathed to churchinstitutions, some Catholic but mainly Orthodox, and the disposition of hisstock of pattern drawings was carefully specified. Andreas Pavias (d. after1504) and his pupil Angelos Bizamanos, and Nicholas Tzafuris (d. before1501) by the 16th century certain tradition was mixed with venetian elementscreated by major artists like Domenikos Theotocopolous (EL-GRECO) MichelDamaskinos and George Klontzas were other leading artists.

VENETO-CRETAN AND GREEK ICONS

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Even before the fall of Constantinople there is evidence that leadingByzantine artists were leaving the capital in order to settle in Crete. Themigration of Byzantine artists to Crete continued increasingly the next yearsand reached its peak after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, when Cretebecame “the most important centre of art in the Greek world”, influencingartistic developments in the rest of the Greek world. Cretan icons werecommissioned for monasteries on Mount Athos and elsewhere. The Cretanschool had a smaller rival; until it fell to the Turks in 1522, Rhodes also had acommunity of artists, but not so large or significant.

The Venetian archives preserve considerable documentation on the trade ofartistic icons between Venice and Crete, which by the end of the 15th centuryhad become one of mass production. There is documentation of a specificorder in 1499, of 700 icons of the Virgin, 500 in a Western style, and 200 inByzantine style. The order was placed with three artists by two dealers, oneVenetian and one from mainland Greece, and the time between contract dateand delivery was set at only forty-five days.

Probably the quality of many such commissioned icons was fairly low, andthe dismissive term Madonneri was devised to describe such bulk painters,who later practised in Italy also, often using a quasi-Byzantine style, andapparently often Greek or Dalmatian individuals. Production of icons at theselevels seems to have led to a glut in the market, and in the following twodecades there is much evidence that the Cretan trade declined significantly, asthe European demand had been reduced. But at the top end of the marketCretan icons were now the finest in the Byzantine world.

VENETO-CRETAN AND GREEK ICONS

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7. The Madre della ConsolazioneItalo-Cretan,

Late 15th Century61x46cm

The Mother of God shown half-lenght with thoughtful expression against a goldground, her blue tunic covered with a red maphorion with a circular gold fastening at thechest, the hems decorated in gold with pseudo-Kufic inscriptions, the folds delineatedwith white shading, her head covered with a transparent white veil; the infant Savioursupported in her right arm resting, her head hand tenderly upon his left knee; over agauze undershirt he wears a dark-green tunic finely decorated with gilt arabesques, anda bright red Imation with gold highlights; holding a gilt orb in his left hand in his lefthand he supports a gilt orb, his right raised in blessing.

The iconography of the Madre Della Consolazione, with its predominantly lateGothic Italian style appears to have been first introduced by the Cretan icon painterNicholas Tzafouris in the second half of the 15th century. There are three examplesbearing his signature, one in the Paul Canellopoulos Collection Athens, another in aprivate collection in Trieste, and a third from a private collection and now exhibited atthe Ikonen-Museum, Recklinghausen, Germany.

In the collection of the Byzantine Museum, Athens, there is also a panel of the samesubject attributed to Tzafouris workshop that has an additional figure of Saint Francis. Thepresent icon should be directly compared with these examples, adhering as it does preciselywith the iconography of each of them and probably attributed to be workshop of Tzafouris.

The icon should also be compared with a panel offered by Sotheby’s and now in aprivate collection which is identical in virtually every respect but which has the additionof two angels on the upper corners.

Chrysanthe Baltoyanni has written extensively on a group of icons of the Madre dellaConsolazione, discussing the iconographic type and variants. (Chrysanthe Baltoyianni,Icons: Mother of God, Athens 1994, pp.273-303)

1 The Royal Academy of Arts, London, from Byzantine to El Greco: Greek Frescoesand Icons, London 1987, No. 42, p.110, 175-43; and Holy Image, Holy Space: Icons andFrescoes from Greece, Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1988, No. 53, p. 136, 211-212.

2 M. Bianco Forin, “Nicola Zafuri, “cretese del Quatrocento e una sua ineditaMadonna”, Arte Venetta XXXVII, 1983, pp. 164-169.

3 Eva Haustein-Bertsch, Icons: Ikonen-Museum, Recklinhausen, Cologne 2008, p.44.4 Myrtali Acheimastou-Potamianou, Icons of the Byzantine Museum of Athensm

Athens 1998, No.40, pp. 144-145; and Holy image, Holy Space (Op cit), No. 54, pp.212-213.

5 Sotheby’s London, Icons, Russian Pictures Works of Art and Fafergé, 20th February1985, Lot 72

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7a. Virgin of TendernessCretan, c. 1500

58x48cm

Follower of Angelos Akotantos

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8. Saints Peter and PaulIlato-Cretan,

(Attributed to Nicholas Tzafouris)Late 15th Century.

15.5x12.5cmThe Two apostle shown full-length on a green foreground, Peter with a dark green tunic,the cuffs and neck decorated with gold, over which he wears an ochre-coloured mantles,lined with real and trimmed with gold; in his right hand he hold two gold keys, and inhis left hand, supported by the crook of his arm, her holds an elaborately bound closedGospels; Paul wears a similarly coloured tunic also with gold fringed cuffs, and a redmantle with dark green lining and hemmed with gold, in his right hand he holds aloft adrawn sword which rests at an angel against his left shoulder, in his left hand he also holda closed gospels bound in red with gilt decoration; the gold background with traces ofLatin designator inscriptions in red, and with an old piercing for hanging.It is interesting to compare this panel with a number of icons of the same subject fromthe Cretan school, most notably The Embrace of the Apostles Peter and Paul by the 15thcentury painter Angelos from the Hodegitria Monastery, Candia, Crete; as well as tworoundels of the same subject attributed to the same painter, one from the Monastery ofSt. John the Theologian, Patmos, the order in the C. krimbas Collection, Athens, recentlyexhibited in Athens.1The same exhibition also included a large panel from the second half of the 15th century,attributed to Nikolaos Ritzos, of Saints Peter and Paul the Model of a Church, in theGalleria dellí Academia, Florence. Catalogued by Nano Chatzidakis, she extensivelydiscusses the theological and political significance of icons of Peter and Paul to VenetianCrete2.Comparison should also be made with a later icon of The Embracing of Peter and Paul,from the Chapel of the Bishops Palace, Ioannina, dated to the 16th century.3The Italianate aspect of elements of the painting, in particular the treatment of thegarments and the realism with which the gospels, keys, and sword have been rendered,as well as the traces of Latin inscription at the top panel indicate that the icon wasproduced for a Catholic client.

Nicholas Tzafouris - PragueMuseum

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9. The Madre Della ConsolazioneItalo-Cretan,Circa 150044x33cm

A variant of the more common iconography with the Virgin in a diaphanous veil anddark-green tunic, her dark red maphorion closed with a circular clasp and with a greenlining, the hems with fine gilt decoration; she supports the infant Savior in her left armand rests her right hand tenderly on his knee; he wears a dark-green tunic with giltgeometric decoration, his orange-colored Imation extensively heightened with gold, andholds a furled scroll in his left hand whilst raising his right in blessing, the goldbackground above with abbreviated red inscriptions for the Virgin and the Savour.

The icon should be compared with another variant in a private Athenian collection,dated to the late 16th century, in which the infant Christ holds an unfurled scroll and aquill, and with five others from the collection of the Byzantine Museum and the BenakiMuseum, Athens, dated to between the second half of the 15th century to the end of the16th century(1).

(1)- Chrysanthe Baltoyianni,Icons: Mother of God, Athens 1994, Nos.78,79,80,81,82,83, pp.291-295, pls. 160-177.

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10. The Nativity,Cretan, 16th century

32.5x26 cm

Painted on a gold ground, the Virgin is depicted kneeling in the centre of thecomposition rather than as is usual, lying on a pallet, and her gaze is directed downtowards her son in the lower corner who is seated on the lap of a midwife whilst a younggirl fills a basin with water in preparation of a bath; slightly behind Her, the infant Christis shown within a cave, swaddled in a crib and attended by a donkey and a cow, whilstin the lower left-hand corner Joseph sits on a rock accompanied by an elderly shepherd;above, the three magi ascend the mountain on their horses following the star with a choirof angels beyond, and to the right, an angel announces the arrival to a young shepherdwho is shown with his flock holding a stick wearing a traditional hat.

Of particular note is unusual iconography of the Virgin which depicts her kneeling ona plateau on the mountain with her arms crossed in front in adoration, rather than withthe more traditional Byzantine iconography which depicts her reclining on a pallet. Thisvariant iconography was first used for icons produced for a Western market, although inall other respects it conforms to the standard Byzantine prototype. The earliestoccurrences are in the Stavronikita Monastery, Mount Athos in a painting of the Nativityby Theophanes in the katholikon, and in a panel painting of the same subject from theStavronikita iconostasis, produced in 1535 and 1546 respectively. The sameiconography also appears in a wall-painting by Frankos Katelanos in the katholicon ofthe Varlaam Monastery in Meteora, executed in 1548.

Comparison should be made with an ealier Cretan icon of the Nativity from theLoverdos Collection in the Byzantine Museum, Athens, date to the first half of the the15th century, and also a slighty later icon of the same subject in the Monastery ofZoodochos Pigi, Patmos, attributed to a Christos Patrinelis et al. Schediasma Istorias tisThriskeutikis Zougraphikis Meta tin Alousin Athens 1957, pl 30).

Myrtali Acheimastou ñ Potamianou, Icons of the Byzantine Museum of Athen,Athens, 1998, No.26, pp.96-7.

Manolis Chatzidakis, Icons of Patmos: Questions of Byzantine and Post-ByzantinePainting, Athens 1989, No.39, pp.87-8, Pls. 35 and 97.

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Nativity c.1400. Italy Nativity, 14th c. Italy

Detail 1. Detail 2.

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11. The Adoration of the Magi, Michel Damaskinos studioC. 1580,66x52cm

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12. A Triptych depicting the cycle of Jesus Christ.A masterpiece by Gorgios Klontzas

Circa 1580-159581.5x65 (open)

Georges Klontzas, came from a family of painters, and ranks amongst the great mastersof late 16th century certan painting. After working in Candia (in Crete) between 1564and 1576, he also worked in Venice, where he became influenced by the contemporaryachievements of Venetian art. It is known from archives that Klontzas has a largeworkshop in Candia.In this marvelous Triptych, Klontzas follows a conversative style; the paintwork catchesthe eye through its refined miniature technique and radiant colouring, its sensitivemodelling and balanced monumental composition.

- French Private Collection.

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Annunciation

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Nativity

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Last Supper & Week of Passion

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Crucifixion

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The Anastasis

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Compare with:

Triptych of the Second Coming,G. Klontzas, Hellenic Institute, Venice, Italy

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13. St. Paraskeva,Cretan, late 16th Century

36.5x28cm

Portrayed half-length in a blue veil, her salmon pink outer garment with bold whitehighlights, and holding a martyrs cross, the foreground in olive green, the pale bluebackground painted with wispy clouds, with a gilt halo; the upper part of the panelwith white inscription identifying the saint; the border of the panel with a red edge.It is useful to compare this icon with a 15th century icon of St. Paraskeva in Crete1,the icon of St. Paraskevi from the Church of the Diasozousa, Crete, dated byChazidakis to the middle of the 16th century2, and a panel from the 17th century in theEkonomopulos Collection, Athens3.1 Manolis Chazidakis (Ed.), Eikones Tis Kritikis Technis, Heraklion 1993, No.1122 Chrysanthi Baltoyanni, Icons: Demetrios Ekonomopoulos Collection, Athens 1986,No.99, pp.66-67, pl.1563 Manolis Chatzidakis, Icons of Patmos: Questions of Byzantine and Post-ByzantinePainting, Athens 1985, No.57, p.99, P1.11

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14. The Dormition of the Virgin,Greek, c.1600,

35x28cm

Painted on bright colours on a gold ground

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15. The Adoration of the Magi,Italo-Cretan, 17th Century

50x40cm

The Virgin is shown seated wearing a dark red dress covered with a green mantle, herhead covered with a pink veil decorated with delicate gold tracery; she supports theplayful figure of the infant Christ on her left knee whilst supporting him with her righthand, Joseph stands behind Her holding a wooden staff and gazing down towards theinfant; in the front the first king with a pale beard kneels, his turban on the ground infront of him, and presents a gilt chalice; behind him the second king with a darkcomplexion and pierced ears, dressed in ornate Ottoman costume with a green kaftan andochre coloured turban picked out with gold, holds aloft a gilt censer in his right hand;behind him the third king wearing a gold diadem holds container and bows towards thechild, a cloud and mountain tops in the background.

The iconography is directly taken from Renaissance models and should be comparedwith a number of examples in Italy, most notably in Renaissance models and should becompared with a Nazionale di Ravenna in particular holds a number of panels withidentical and Trieste.7 The Mueso iconography.8 This icon, as well as those in Ravennaand elsewhere all appear to have been derived from elements in two prototypes paintedby Jacopo Bassano (1510-1592), the Adoration of the Magi (1542) now in the NationalGallery of Scotland, Edinburgh; and the Adoration of Shepherds (c.1555), now in theKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

The icon should also be compared with an earlier panel of the same subject from theVelimezis Collection and attributed by Nano Chatzidakis to the art of AngelosPitzamanos.9

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16. The Virgin Galaktotrophousa with St. PeterItalo-Cretan, 16th Century

27.2x21.3 cm

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17. The DeisisCretan, 16th Century

47x43 cm

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18. The Virgin & Child with St. John the BaptistItalo-Cretan, 16th Century

37x28 cm

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19. The Hodigitria Mother of GodGreek, 17th Century

27.5x22 cm

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20. The Descending from the CrossCretan, style of E.Tzanes 17th Century

51x33.6 cm

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21.The Resurrection,Cretan, style of E. Tzanes, 17th Century

32x24cm

Christ stands on the lid of a closed marble sarcophagus holding a red vexillium in hisleft hand whilst his right is raised in a triumphal gesture, with a white loincloth and redchlamys which billows behind him echoing the movement of the pendant flag, thecontours of his body accentuated with white highlights; on either side of the tomb are thethree soldiers guarding the sepulcher, depicted in elaborate European style armour withhelmets, swords and haldberds, a fourth figure is shown wearing civilian attire and witha soft hat; the mountainous terrain in the background with the scene of the Crucifixionwith vacant crosses, the city of Jerusalem beyond; gilt ground.

Following a western model, the composition is derived from quattrocento Italianpainting and is first encountered in Greek painting in an icon by the 15th century iconpainter Andreas Ritzos of the initials JHS (the abbreviation of Jesus HominumSanctum), in the Byzantine Museum, Athens;18 as well as an icon by Andrea Pavias ofthe late 15th century in the MusÈs díArt et díhistoire, Geneva.19 The iconography canalso be seen in a leaf from a triptych tentatively attributed to a pupil of Andreas Pavias,and dated to c.1500m in the Museo Nazionale, Ravenna.20

There are also several examples of the 17th and 18th centuries with comparableiconography in the George Tsakiroglou Collection.21

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22. Christ PantocratorGreek, Mount Athos, 17th Century

67x32.5 cm

89

90

23.The Virgin Enthroned with St. John and St. Spiridon,Ionian Islands, 17th Century

46.5x44.5cm

The Virgin, supported on a tasseled red cushion on an elaborate carved marble throne,her red maphorion surmounted with a gold crown; the infant Saviour is supported on Herlap holding an unfurled scroll and marketing a gesture of blessing; behind are the full-length figures of St. John the Baptist in typical asetic garb, and the Bishop Saint Spiridonof Corfu, painted ion bright colours against a gold ground, the border edged in red.

91

92

24. Saint NicholasGreek, 17th Century

39x28cm

Shown half-length on a gold ground, with an orange-red phailonion, his omophoriondecorated with crosses within formal floral decoration, in his left hand he holds theclosed gold-bound Gospels and with is right he blesses, with a raised double border

1 Maria Vassilakis (Ed), The Hand of Angelos: an Icon Painter in Venetian Crete, Athens 2010, Nos.25-27, pp.152-157.

2 Maria Vassilakis (Ed), Op cit, No.58, pp.220-2213 Exhibition Catalogue: Old University, Athens, July 26th 1985-January 6th 1986, Byzantine and Post

Byzantine Art, No.145,p.141.4 Manolis Chatzidakis and Eugenia Drakopoulos, Ellines Zougraphou Meta Tin Alosin (1450-1830),

Vol.2, Athens 1997 pp.53-565 Zoun A. Mylouna, Mouseiou Zakynthou, Athens 1998.6 Nano Chatizidakis, Icons: The Velimezis Collection, Athens 1998, No.46, pp.346-3537 P. Angiolini-Martinelli, Le Icone della collezione classense di Ravenna, Bologna 1982, Nos.123-125,

125.1, 131, pp.78-80.8 Exhibition catalogue: Icone dale collezioni del Museum Nazionale di Ravenna, Ravenna September-

November 1979Nos.119-134, pp.76-83.9 Nano Chatizidakis, Icons: The Velimezis Collection: Catalogue RaisonnÈ, Athens 1998, No.15, pp.166-

173.10 The Royal Academy of Arts, London, From Byzantine to El Greco: Greek Frescoes and Icons, London

1987, No.42, [.110, 175-43; and Holy Space: Icons and Frescoes from Greece, Walters Art Gallery,Baltimore, 1988, No.53, p.136, 211-212.

11 M.Bianco Florin, ëNicola Zafurií, ëcretese del Quatrocento e una sua inedita Madonnaí, Arte VenetaXXXVII, 1983, pp.164-169.

12 Eva Haustein-Bretsh, Icons: Ikonen-Museum, Recklinghausen, Cologne 2008, p.4413 Myrtali Acheimastou-Potamianou, Icons of the Byzantine Museum of Athensm Athens 1998, No.40,

pp.144-145; and Holy Image, Holy Space (op cit), No.54, pp.212-21314 Sothebyís London, Icons, Russian Pictures Works of Art and FabergÈ, 20th February 1985, Lot72.15 Manolis Chazidakis (Ed.), Eikones Tis Kritikis Technis, Heraklion 1993, no.11216 Chrysanthi Baltoyanni, Icons: Demetrios Ekonomopoulos Collection, Athen 1986, No.99, pp.66-67,

pl.15617 Manolis Chatzidakis, Icons of Patmos: Questions of Byzantine and Post- Byzantie Painting, Athens

1985, No.57m p.99, Pl.1118 Myrtali Acheimastou-Potamianou, Icons of the Byzantine Museum of Athens, Athens, 1998, No.37,

pp.132-5.19 Miroslav Lazovic & Stella Frigerio-Zeniou, Les Icones du MusÈe díArt et díhistoire, GenËve, No.3.20 Nano Chatzidakis, From Candia to Venice: Greek Icons in Italy 15th ñ 16th Centuries, Athens 1993,

No.28, pp.124-12721 Agapi Karakatzani, Zillogi Georgiou Tsakiroglou: Eikones, Athens 1980, Nos. 118-120, ill.p.111,No.190, ill.p.164, and No.191m ill.p.171.

93

94

25. Entroned Virgin & Child with SS Nicholas John the Baptist & two otherSaints, lower register with SS George & Demitrios.

Greek, 17th Century44x35 cm

95

96

26. The Pentecost Greek, 17th Century

54x39 cm

97

98

27. Saint Paul,Greek, 16th Century,

33.5x31cm

99

100

28. Saints Demitrios and NestorGreek, possibly Mount Athos, 17th Century

44x29cm

The warrior saints shown on a dark green ground beneath a half-length cloud-bornevision of the Saviour, each in elaborate gilt armour and holding a lance and shield, theborders and upper corners of the panel with gilt stucco decorated with stylized foliageand flower heads, in which the infant Christ holds an unfurled scroll and a quill. Fiveothers icons from the collection of th Byzantine Museum and the Benaki Museum,Athens, dated to between the second half of the 15th century to the end of the 16thcentury.

Chrysanthe Baltoyianni, Icons: Mother of God, Athens 1994, Nos.78,79,80,81,82,83,pp.291-295, pls. 160-177.

101

102

29. The Virgin of Tenderness,Nicholas Kallergis, Crete, Dated 1720

20x15.5cm

Painted on a gold ground, the Virgin supports the infant Saviour with her left arm andholds him in an intimate embrace, He gazes at His mother who holds up His left handwith her own, the border with a black scrolling foliate design over bands of red, white,and yellow; the lower edge inscribed in Greek in red: Deisis Tou Doulou Tou TheouNikolaou Katrami Kheir Nikolaou Kalergis Tou Kriti

There are two painters with the recorded with name Nicholas Kalergis neither ofwhom is known to have signed his works as in this icon.4 The first, with only one knownpanel signed by him and dated 1651 in the museum of Heraklion, Crete, and the secondwho was active between 1699-1747, the son of the priest and icon painter FrangiskosKallergis. Born on Crete he left Rethymon when it fell to the Ottomans in 1645 andsettled on Zakynthos where his output was considerable and which includes a number ofwall paintings and numerous icons some of which are held by the Zakynthos Museum.5Kallergis painted in a range of styles and is known to have copied old icons brought toZakynthos by Cretan refugees. An icon of St. Spiridon and Scenes from his life in theVelimezis Collections, signed and dates 1744 is one of the last known dated works byKallergis.6

103

104

30. Virgin & ChildCretan. c. 1730

60x43 cm

105

106

31. Pieta V-Cretan, 15th Century

52.5x46 cm

Sothebys sale, NewYork

107

108

32. Cross Engraved open work, Mount Athos Greek, 17th Century

16.8x6.3 cmObserve

109

111

The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over1000 years of art in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa. It includesmajor art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artistscrafts, and the artists themselves.

Art historians attempt to classify medieval art into major periods and styles, oftenwith some difficulty. A generally accepted scheme includes Early Christian art,Migration Period art, Byzantine art, Insular art, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art,and Gothic art, as well as many other periods within these central styles. In additioneach region, mostly during the period in the process of becoming nations or cultures,had its own distinct artistic style, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Norse art.

Medieval art was produced in many media, and the works that remain in largenumbers include sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork andmosaics, all of which have had a higher survival rate than other media like fresco wall-paintings, work in precious metals or textiles, including tapestry. Especially in the earlypart of the period, works in the so-called “minor arts” or decorative arts, such asmetalwork, ivory carving, enamel and embroidery using precious metals, were probablymore highly valued than paintings or monumental sculpture.

Medieval art in Europe grew out of the artistic heritage of the Roman Empire and theiconographic traditions of the early Christian church. These sources were mixed withthe vigorous “Barbarian” artistic culture of Northern Europe to produce a remarkableartistic legacy. Indeed the history of medieval art can be seen as the history of theinterplay between the elements of classical, early Christian and “barbarian” art. Apartfrom the formal aspects of classicism, there was a continuous tradition of realisticdepiction of objects that survived in Byzantine art throughout the period, while in theWest it appears intermittently, combining and sometimes competing with newexpressionist possibilities developed in Western Europe and the Northern legacy ofenergetic decorative elements.

The period ended with the self-perceived Renaissance recovery of the skills andvalues of classical art, and the artistic legacy of the Middle Ages was then disparagedfor some centuries. Since a revival of interest and understanding in the 19th century ithas been seen as a period of enormous achievement that underlies the development oflater Western art.

MEDIEVAL ART & LATER

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33. The Annunciation, with the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel.Frescoes mounted and framed. Romanesque period c.1125 - 1200 AD

France or Northern Italy. 110x71cm (without frame)

113

114

34. Virgin of Tenderness.Italian after Duccio. 14th century or later.

47x32 cm

115

116

35. Virgin & Child.Italian after Duccio. 14th century or later.

27x20 cm

117

118

36. Virgin & Child with Angels and SS Bernardino and Anthony.Italian Sano Di Pietro (attributed) C.1400

50.5x33.5 cm

119

All Icons Are Well ProvenancedFor Enquiries Contact:hkkorban@hotmail.comrhkorban@hotmail.com