ARCHANGEL GABRIEL

Creator(s): Unknown

Currently in storage

About this object

In this fragment of an Annunciation, probably cut from the top of a pair of Royal Doors, the Archangel Gabriel is shown moving swiftly towards the right, his left foot raised in mid-step, his left hand outstretched with three fingers raised, as he announces the coming of the Christ Child to the (here absent) Mother of God. He wears a red hymation over a green chiton, the folds of which are highlighted [?]. His hair is arranged in tight rows of curls through which a ribbon with undulating end is twined and a transparent halo encircles his head. He stands on a ? ground with exuberantly decorated architecture behind him. The wooden board is carved to form a high-relief decorative frame around the kovcheg, with a flattened ogee arch supported on fluted columns and a chequer-board pattern on the base. "The Annunciation" is inscribed in red above the Archangel's head, on a red bole ground from which the original gold leaf has disappeared.

Object name:

ARCHANGEL GABRIEL

Made from:

Tempera on wood

Made in:

Russia

Date made:

17th c.

Size:

36.5 × 26 cm (14 3/8 × 10 1/4 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:

54.53

Class:

ICON

Signature marks:

INSCRIPTION on recto: "BLAGOVESHCHENIE"

Credit line:

Gift of Madame Augusto Rosso, 1968