"Mother of God of Three Hands."

High Resolution Images: fragments.

Second half of the 18th century. Circa 1750. Serbia. Athenian (Neo-Byzantine school).

Size: 
Technique & Material: Cypress board, primer-gesso, yolk tempera, blackening on gold, varnish-drying oil. Gilding with gold of different shades and techniques: leaf and melted.

Description:  This is a very large icon. This is an icon of the Mother of God of the Three Hands painted in the Neo-Byzantine (Athenian) style. The main thing is that it is necessary to highlight not only the style-forming and main places of icon painting, but also to show certain nuances of painting in which a lot of work and talent was invested. The bright scarlet omophorion of the Mother of God with the work with melted gold - makes a strong impression and is executed perfectly.

This icon was not restored and it is in perfect condition.

Mother of God of Three Hands is undoubtedly the most revered icon in Serbia. This icon is the National Shrine of Serbia.
Its enormous sacred significance for the Serbs can perhaps be compared only with the veneration in Poland of Mother of God of Czestochowa or the Black Madonna, as she is also called for her dark face. Millions of Catholic pilgrims visit her in Poland. So the icon of the Three-handed (Serb. Bogorodica Troejerucica) for the Serbs is a spiritual symbol. She is considered the patroness and protector of the Serbian people. Symbolicically, the third hand is a sign of protection, defense. Its symbolic meaning is the same as the cloth in the hands of the Mother of God in the Russian iconography of the icon of the Intercession of the Saint Mother of God.

Since the 8th century, many Greek icon painters came from Greece, escaping from the yoke of the Ottoman Empire. In the 18th century, Serbia had its own characteristic icon-painting school, while the Greeks mainly worked in the Athenian (Neo Byzantine) school, where this icon was painted. The prototype of this icon is kept in the Serbian monastery-Hilandar, on the holy Mount Athos. There is a unique tradition in this monastery: The monks of this monastery, founded in the 8th century, never choose an abbot. The icon was placed on the abbot's throne and this was understood as a sign - the Mother of God herself is the abbess of the monastery. This custom has been preserved in Hilandar - Mother of God of Three Hands is the abbess of the monastery, and the abbot is only her deputy.

Brief iconographic analysis:
The icon depicts the Mother of God with the Child in the iconographic type of Hodegetria, its peculiarity is the third hand. Hence the name of the icon - Mother of God of Three Hands. The most common interpretation of this unusualness is associated with the figure of John of Damascus. This icon was painted in Serbia in the Athenian (Neo-Byzantine) icon painting school by a Greek iconographer for Russia. This is how curious it turns out.
The icon is painted with texts in Church Slavonic Russian. The Serbian origin of the icon added elements of the Baroque style to the Athenian style, as in this icon we see a Baroque ornament woven into the frame of the icon, made with niello on gold.

The fine drawing of the Mother of God face here has no volume, almond-shaped eyes, a light blush between the lamellae and a stunning life-like carnation due to the great number of layers melted, as well as some severity of iconography - these are the techniques of this school. Look at the hands of the Mother of God. The palms - as if alive, as if radiating warmth, they are almost transparent. In this icon, the exquisite decorativeness of the design and the painting itself is bright and rich. Like, for example, the absolutely stunning color of the omophorion. Cinnabar with gold is the color of Porphyry, the imperial color. In Rus', the omophorion is painted differently, usually in a dark cherry color.

Copies of this icon are given as a Blessing. Perhaps in this way (as a gift and blessing) it ended up in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. At that time, the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was one of the main and powerful, historically important, influential centers of the Orthodox faith in the world. According to another version, it is possible that the icon was painted directly in the icon painting workshop in the Kyiv Lavra by a Greek icon painter invited from Serbia. In this icon, the painting is masterfully executed, using the most expensive pigments, and despite the more than large size of the gold, they did not skimp on gold for this icon. The clothes simply shine and we can leave the lights off in the gallery. A nice nuance is the blue-eyed "Russian" Savior Emmanuel. I would also note an important moment for any icon - the inscriptions. Before the fonts are written, the icon is still just a picture. Here we see a large inscription on the lower field with the full name of the icon without abbreviations in a confident hand in Church Slavonic. Mother of God Mother Troeruchitsa (Three Hand).

Please ask for more detailed information.

Price: upon request

"Богоматерь Троеручица" 

Вторая половина XVIII века. Около 1750 г. Сербия. Афинская (неовизантийская школа).
Размер: 

Кипарисовая доска, грунт-левкас, желтковая темпера, чернение по золоту, лак-олифа. Позолота золотом разных оттенков и техник: листовое и плавленое.

High Resolution Images: fragments.
Цена: по запросу-