Russia, 19th century, Icon of the Madonna with Child and patron

Russia, 19th century

Icon Madonna with Child and Client

Tempera on wood, 52 x 40 cm

The icon, from the Greek eikon, image, presents the narration of some episodes from the life of the Virgin and Jesus, constituting a theological treatise in colour.

The particularity of the icons is already highlighted by the preparation of the support on which it is painted. The wooden board itself is a symbol of the cross, while the canvas is a symbol of the mandylion, or the veil of Veronica, or the Shroud; the chalk that is spread on the canvas, the levkas is a symbol of the stone. The icons were painted on wooden boards, generally made of lime, larch or fir. An excavation, called a "casket" or "ark", was generally made on the internal side of the tablet in order to leave a frame in relief on the edges. The icon is not a personal interpretation but a ritual with precise canons to be respected; unlike paintings, of which the author's name is often known, the icon must remain anonymous. Theology believed that icons were works of God himself, created through the hands of the iconographer.

In the icon in question we find a recurring representation of the Madonna with Child, in this case enriched by the figure of the patron/donor who is indicated by the hand of Christ.