ST. ALEXEI, METROPOLITAN OF MOSCOW

Creator(s): Unknown (Painter) , Unknown (Silversmith)

On view in: Icon Room

About this object

St. Aleksei, Metropolitan of Moscow, is depicted half-length, his right hand raised in blessing and his left holding a closed gospel protected by a cloth. His long thin face is painted in an academic manner, with a modelled nose, deep groove between the brows, and hollow cheeks. His long club-shaped beard is flecked with fine white hairs. The fingers of his raised hand are outlined in red. All but the saint's face and hand are covered by a silver gilt oklad. His klobuk with embroidered seraphim on the forehead and the cloth in his left hand are rendered in matte silver, while his omophorion with Greek key border and his sakkos chased with a repeat geometric pattern are gilded. The center of the detachable venets is stamped with a foliate scroll and edged with a palmette border in blue, yellow, green, white, and orange filigree enamel. The ground is punched with a dense all-over foliate pattern, while the pattern on the frame echoes the scrollwork on the inner circle of the venets and is separated from the kovcheg by a thick rope edge. A plaque on the center lower edge is inscribed with the saint's name, while a brass plaque attached to the back is inscribed "To our dear godchild, H.I.H. the Tsarevich Grand Duke Aleksei Nikolaevich from the Reservists of Starorussky Uyezd on their return from the Far East 1906."

Object name:

ST. ALEXEI, METROPOLITAN OF MOSCOW

Made from:

Tempera on wood with silver and enamels

Made in:

Moscow, Russia

Date made:

1899-1906

Size:

26.8 × 22.4 cm (10 9/16 × 8 13/16 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:

54.26

Class:

ICON

Signature marks:

MARK OKLAD: on the bottom edge 1) AS (in square) for unknown master, 2) 84 for silver content, 3) kokoshnik facing left with IL on its side for Moscow and tester Ivan Lebedkin 1899; 1) 2) and 3) are repeated low on St. Aleksei's omophorion and 1) on p.r. side of halo. INSCRIPTION ICON: verso: "DOROGOMU KRESTNIKU EGO IMPERATORSKOMU VYSOCHESTVU NASLEDNIKU TSESAREVICHU I VELIKOMU KNIAZIU ALEKSEIU NIKOLAEVICHU OT ZAPASNYKH STARORUSSKOGO UEZDA VERNUVSHCHIKHSIA S DAL'NOGO VOSTOKA 1906 G." (engraved on brass plaque); "THIS ICON HAS TO BE DONE 1986 No 19" (on masking tape)

Credit line:

Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973