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Russian Orthhodox tetraptych brass icon with 21 scenes in relief, 20 with a blue enamel background

[TETRAPTYCH ICON].
[Incipit:] Kr[es]tou tvoemou pokli[!]naemsya vl[adi]koi s[vya]toe voskresenie tvoe slavim [= We bow before your cross, master, and praise your holy resurrection].
[Moscow or vicinity?, ca. 1810?]. A Russian Orthodox brass icon comprising 4 panels hinged to each other (15 x 9.5 x 1.5 cm closed; 15 x 35.5 x 0.5 cm open), each of the 4 interior sides with 5 relief scenes with a blue enamel background (1 scene in the onion-dome top and 1 in each of the 4 quarters of the square body), each scene with an inscription above it. Further with a brass relief veneration of the cross on the front of the exterior in a decorated architectural frame, with an oval at the head bearing the text transcribed above.
€ 2,500
An early 19th-century Russian Orthodox travelling icon in the form of a brass relief tetraptych (folding quadruple panel), the interior with a blue enamel background. The upper part of each panel has the traditional Russian Orthodox form of the onion dome, while the main body is square. The inscriptions are in Church Slavonic, rendered in the poloustav form of Cyrillic capitals. When folded for carrying the icon shows a brass relief Veneration of the Cross on the front. When opened it displays the interior of four panels side by side with twenty brass relief scenes with a blue enamel background. Each panel has one scene in the onion-dome top and one in each of the four quarters of the square body. The first three panels from left to right show in the onion domes: the crucifixion, the trinity and the feast of the cross, while the twelve quarters below show twelve scenes related to Jesus's life, associated with the twelve most important feast days, from the Annunciation to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The fourth panel shows the Laudation of the Virgin Mary in the onion dome and the four most important icons of the Virgin Mary in the four quarters of the main body. The two outer panels fold in to fit into recesses in the two central panels, which can then be shut like a book.
The Veneration of the Cross on the outside of the closed icon has oxidized slightly around the foot of the cross, leaving a green patina, but it and the interior panel scenes are otherwise in very good condition, showing little wear, so that even the facial features of the tiny figures and the other high parts of the relief remain (quite unusually) very distinct. An unusually elaborate brass and enamel travelling icon with 21 scenes on 4 folding relief panels, remarkably well preserved.
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Art, architecture & photography  >  Art & Art History
Europe  >  Russia
Religion & devotion  >  Church History & Missions