The 13th Century Icon ‘The Mother of God Eleousa’ from a Private Collection in Moscow

Keywords: Virgin of Tenderness, Eleousa, icon, iconography, painting, sculpture, Byzantium, Sicily, artistic tradition, cultural influence

Abstract

The origin of this ‘Eleousa’ icon is unknown. In 1949, the image was in a private collection in Rome. The icon suffered losses. The board was sawed off at the bottom; the background was re-primed; the layers of paint are incompletely preserved. The iconography of the image is Byzantine and the manner of painting complies with Byzantine canons. However, the holy faces and naked body parts are statuesque and impress the viewer with their materiality. A likely provenance is Sicilian, artist’s familiarity with Byzantine tradition being the strongest evidence. The master was likely influenced by stone sculpture, flourishing in Sicily and Southern Italy in the first half of the 13th century. Such imitation of sculptures in painting was well known to contemporary Roman artists, e.g., Pietro Cavallini and Jacopo Torriti.

Author Biography

L. M. Evseeva , The Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icon

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34680/vistheo-2024-6-2-400-410

Liliya M. Evseeva
The Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icon,
Moscow, Russia
lilia.m.evseeva@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3208-460X

Abstract
The origin of this ‘Eleousa’ icon is unknown. In 1949, the image was in a private collection in Rome. The icon suffered losses. The board was sawed off at the bottom; the background was re-primed; the layers of paint are incompletely preserved. The iconography of the image is Byzantine and the manner of painting complies with Byzantine canons. However, the holy faces and naked body parts are statuesque and impress the viewer with their materiality. A likely provenance is Sicilian, artist’s familiarity with Byzantine tradition being the strongest evidence. The master was likely influenced by stone sculpture, flourishing in Sicily and Southern Italy in the first half of the 13th century. Such imitation of sculptures in painting was well known to contemporary Roman artists, e.g., Pietro Cavallini and Jacopo Torriti.

Keywords: Virgin of Tenderness, Eleousa, icon, iconography, painting, sculpture, Byzantium, Sicily, artistic tradition, cultural influence

References

Belting 2002 – Belting H. Bild und Kult. Eine Geschichte des Bildes vor dem Zeitalter der Kunst. Transl. into Russian by K. A. Piganovich. Moscow, 2002.

Buchthal 1955 – Buchthal H. A School of Miniature Painting in Norman Sicily. Late Classical and Medieval Studies in Honor of Albert Matthias Friend, Jr. Ed. by K. Weitzmann. Princeton, 1955. Pp. 312–339.

Buschhausen 1978 – Buschhausen H. Die süditalienische Bauplastik im Königreich Jerusalem von König Wilhelm II. bis Kaiser Friedrich II. Wien, 1978.

Distelberger 2002 – Distelberger R. Die Kunst des Steinschnitts: Prunkgefasse, Kameen und Commessi aus der Kunstkammer. Wien, 2002.

Garrison 1949 – Garrison E. B. Italian Romanesque Panel Painting. An Illustrated Index. Florence, 1949.

Lazarev 1956 – Lazarev V. N. Origin of Italian Renaissance. Moscow, 1956. In Russian.

Lazarev 1986 – Lazarev V. N. The History of Byzantine Painting. Moscow, 1986. In Russian.

Markova 2002 – Markova V. The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. The Collection of Painting. Italy of 8th – 16th Centuries. Moscow, 2002. In Russian.

Museo 1998 – Il Museo Campano di Capua. Capua, 1998.

Piotrovsky, Pyatnitsky 2017 – Byzantium through the Centuries. Ed. by M. B. Piotrovsky, Yu. A. Pyatnitsky. St. Petersburg, 2017. In Russian.

Santoro 2010 – Santoro R. The Palatine Chapel and Royal Palace. Palermo, 2010.

About author

Liliya M. Evseeva
Cand. Sci. (Art History)
Deputy Director for Research
The Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icon
3 Bldg., 3, Goncharnaya St., Moscow, 109240, Russian Federation
e-mail: lilia.m.evseeva@gmail.com

For citation:
Evseeva L. M. The 13th century icon ‘The Mother of God Eleousa’ from a private collection in Moscow. Journal of Visual Theology. 2024. Vol. 6. 2. Pp. 400–410. https://doi.org/10.34680/vistheo-2024-6-2-400-410

Published
2024-11-20
Issue
Vol 6 No 2 (2024): Journal of Visual Theology
Section
Research Reports
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