Icon

Russian

late 18th century

Russia

Egg tempera on wood panel

12 x 10-1/2 inches

This icon, which still retains its silver cover, or oklad, includes four different representations of the Virgin Mary.
At the top left, Mary inclines her head towards a representation of the Crucifixion; below are the instruments that were used to torture Jesus. At the left, a rooster—a reference to Jesus’s prediction that his disciple Peter would disown him before the rooster crowed—perches on a column. An inscription above its head reads Alexi—could this be the artist’s signature?
At the top right, the Virgin of the Sign (Znamenie) is surrounded by Old Testament prophets that Christians believe wrote about the birth of Jesus.
At the bottom, Saint Charalambos, possibly the patron saint of the family or monastery that commissioned this icon, is flanked by two additional representations of Mary and the infant Jesus.

Gift of the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts

1964:6

In storage

Threshold of the Invisible World: Russian Icons from the Collection

Splendor and Light: Russian Art from the Collection

Ave Maria: Symbolic and Narrative Icons from the Permanent Collection