Preview
Creation Date
16th–17th centuries (?)
Geography
Athens, Greece; perhaps Crete
Culture
Greek, Orthodox, Byzantine, Post-Byzantine, Cretan
Medium
Tempera and gold leaf painted on wood
Dimensions
Closed: 6 13/16 x 4 5/16 x 1 5/16 in. (17.3 x 10.9 x 3.4 cm)
Open: 6 13/16 x 6 1/16 x 1 5/16 in. (17.3 x 15.5 x 3.4 cm)
Wing: 5 10/16 x 2 x 15/16 in. (14.2 x 5.2 x 0.9 cm)
Credit Line
Bequest of David P. Harris ('46), 2020
Accession Number
2020.351
Provenance
Purchased by David P. Harris from M. Capsoulaki (The Copper Shop) at 63 Pandrosou Athens, on May 30, 1972.
Condition
Aged, paint darkened. Cracked gesso. Metal hinges appear to be original. (Aug. 2023)
Creator Biography
Perhaps painted by an artist of the Cretan school.
Description
This triptych (missing its left wing) features a frontal portrait of Jesus on the central panel and St. Nicholas on the right wing. The wood is a dark brown with the perimeter raised on the upper half and a protruding step beneath Christ. Remnants of faint, red-orange paint are visible on the borders and on the closed wing of St. Nicholas. The outside of the wing hints at a possible floral pattern. Gold leaf adorns the background of the icon.
Christ faces frontally with dark ochre hair and is of a larger hierarchical scale to Nicholas. The combined use of ochre and highlights add dimensionality to Christ’s and Nicholas’s face and body. Notable and bright highlights are included above the eyebrows, along the nose, cheekbones, and neck. Lines are also present on the forehead of the two figures, most prominently on Nicholas, perhaps emphasizing his age. They both have beards, however, Christ’s appears more youthful to Nicholas’s more gray and slim beard.
Christ's lips are also rouge and slightly pouted, providing a sense of liveliness. His neck is swollen, which is a traditional characteristic of Byzantine icon painting. Christ's eyes appear to be looking to the left, meanwhile, Nicholas looks frontally. Christ is clothed in a red chiton and green himation, which originally may have been blue, but has since faded with age. Furthermore, he is depicted in the act of giving a blessing. St. Nicholas wears red garments, holding a holy book in his left hand which is obscured by the swarming red cloth, and his right hand is in the symbol of a blessing.
The small size of this icon indicates that this may have been used while traveling, a personal and private object of devotion.
- Maya Virdell ('24), August 2023
