Early 19th Century, Icon Of The Nativity Of The Mother Of God

Early 19th century

Icon of the Nativity of the Mother of God

Tempera on table, cm 54 x 45

The icon in question condenses several scenes from the story of the Virgin, whose representation within the compositional space does not follow a precise order so to speak chronological and succession. Indeed, the core of the Icon is represented by the group with Saint Anna, Saint Joachim (whose names are inscribed in the golden nimbus) and the newborn Virgin in fasces, arranged within a monumental building classicizing. Below the main scene, are instead synthesized the annunciation to Saint Anne by the Archangel Gabriel and the Nativity of the Virgin in a single scene. We see Saint Anna sitting with the Virgin in her arms and in front of them the angel announcing. Outside the building, which can probably be identified as a temple, comes back depicted the Archangel, perhaps while he goes to make a vow at the temple. Also Anna and Joachim are represented several times: Outside the temple at the bottom, gathered in a happy embrace following the news of the miraculous pregnancy; but they also appear in the upper part of the table, one on the left the other on the right, kneel to pray to God in recognition before two blessing angels, which emerge from the dark clouds that surround the Golden Crescent within which is depicted God the Blessing Father.

At the Uffizi in Florence is preserved an icon depicting the Nativity of the Mother of God made in central Russia at the end of the nineteenth century. Also in the icon of the Uffizi, God the Father stands high and the various scenes are arranged within a large and articulated building. Relative comparisons can be found in the icon of the same subject at the National Museum of the Calci Monastery but also in the icons circulating in the antique market