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ST. GURII, ST. SAMON, AND ST. AVIV

Creator(s): Firm of Iakov Mishukov (Maker)

On view in: Icon Room


About this object

With the rise of the nationalist sentiment and renewed interest in Russia's medieval past in the 1800s, the refined miniature painting and sumptuous metalwork of the 1600s made a fashionable comeback. New icons rendered in traditional styles by the painters of Palekh and Mstera were often sent to the workshops of Moscow and St. Petersburg jewelers to be fitted with ornamental oklads.

The three patron saints of marriage and family life stand on a flagged floor beneath an image of Christ Not Made By Hands flanked by two angels. St. Samon in the center is the oldest and tallest of the three, with full white beard and luxuriant white hair, while St. Gurii to his right has dark hair slightly receding and a small beard. Both are dressed alike in long chitons with ornamental borders and hymations knotted at the neck, one green, one peach colored. The youthful, beardless St. Aviv wears a green deacon's stikhar and holds a censor and incense box. The miniature painting is extremely fine with much chrysography. The polia is ochre with a green and cinnebar filenka, while the ground of the kovcheg is olive. An elaborate oklad covers all but the faces and hands of the icon. The robes and feet of the three saints are rendered in a variety of filigree patterns and the space behind them is guillauched. Around each of the saints' heads is a small filigree enamel venets, the colors of which are repeated in the four inset spandrels at each corner. The border is covered with a dense pattern of foliate scrolls with fluted outer border.

Object name:
ST. GURII, ST. SAMON, AND ST. AVIV
Made from:
Tempera on wood with gilding -- silver gilt with filigree enamels
Made in:
Moscow, Russia
Date made:
1800-1896
Size:
12 9/16 × 10 11/16 in. (31.9 × 27.1 cm) Icon: 12 5/16 × 10 7/16 in. (31.3 × 26.5 cm) Oklad: 12 9/16 × 10 11/16 in. (31.9 × 27.1 cm)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
54.33
Class:
ICON
Signature marks:
MARK; INSCRIPTION ICON: on recto above each saint: "ST MU .....; on verso: 18 # (in pen); THIS ICON IS FINE 1986 (on masking tape) OKLAD: on bottom edge 1) Ia.M (in square) for maker Iakov Mishukov (P-L #2997), 2) 84 for silver content, 3) St. George facing left for Moscow 1880s, 4) 875 Kokoshnik facing left for ?
Credit line:
Bequest of Marjorie Merriweather Post, 1973