"Descent into Hell."

High Resolution Images: fragments.

17th century. 1650-1700. Northern Russia. Vologda.

Size: 31.0 x 26.0 cm.
Technique & Material: 

Description:  This icon is a striking example of the mysterious and still little-studied iconography of the Russian North. From Vologda on the Volga River to the Old Believer communities on the White Sea coast, a distinctive iconographic style developed, uniting several subschools and collectively known as Northern Painting. The characteristics of northern icons, such as this one, demonstrate simplicity of composition, the vivid emotional character of the characters, decorativeness, laconism, and a certain simplification and sentimentality of the imagery. However, the "folksy" nature of the iconography does not detract from its artistic merits. On the contrary, this is an extremely interesting icon, both from a scholarly and a collector's perspective. For Christian believers, this is a centuries-old sacred relic: a Christian proverb says, "As we pray to the icon, so it prays for us." Furthermore, the theme of the Descent into Hell is the most important, as it captures the Resurrection and the victory over death.

We see a certain realism and even volume in this icon. It is worth noting here that the realism of the northern icon, in meaning and technique, was of a completely different origin than that of the official capital church, where volume in iconography emerged thanks to techniques and methods introduced by Western artists beginning with the era of Empress Catherine the Great. She invited artists to Saint Petersburg in large numbers and paid very well. They accepted Orthodoxy and had the right to paint icons, in principle they tried very hard to observe the canon. However, the Italians (Fryazhins in colloquial Russian) brought Western techniques and methods of modeling light and shadow, which created volume and realism, which greatly influenced the court style of icon painting called Fryaz.

This northern icon, on the contrary, shows no Western influence. After the Great Schism, the inhabitants of the Northern region were not primarily Old Believers. Life there was extremely difficult, and the people were harsh. Thus, the Northern icon stems directly from Byzantine origins, without the infusion of Western art.

This style developed independently, but firmly retained the roots of Byzantine iconography and features of the pre-Nikanian style, i.e., pre-schismatic Old Russian iconography. The aforementioned volumetric effect is achieved here through multiple layers of tempera paint, using mineral pigments diluted in egg yolk. (A specialized icon painting technique is the layered application of tempera as it dries, from a dark base coat to transparent glazes and then highlights. The more expensive the icon, the more labor the artist put into it.)
This icon has a pleasant, restrained color scheme and unforgettable scaffolds (PHOTO OF THE ridges HERE) in the background, which are a striking, informative iconographic nuance that confirms the icon's northern origin and age. The 17th century is also confirmed by the solid board with a double (!) ark, on which is laid a classic painting typical of the provincial Old Believer northern school of the first half of the 18th century. After the Great Schism, churches, contrary to some scholars and even iconographers, mistakenly called the icon of this subject "Descent into Hell and the Resurrection of Christ". This is incorrect. In Old Russian iconography until the 17th century, this icon was simply called "Descent into Hell". The Resurrection theme came later, along with Western European religious painting.

This icon has rare subject, sought after by both private collectors and museum collections.

Please ask for more detailed information.

Price: 2500 EUR.-

"Сошествие во ад." 

XVII век. 1650–1700 гг. Северная Русь. Вологда.
Размер: 31.0 x 26.0 cm.

High Resolution Images: fragments.
Цена: 2500 EUR.-