Greek
19th century
Tempera on wood panel
Height 13 1/4" (33.7 cm) x Width 12 3/4" (32.4 cm)
Provenance: Valerie and John Arieta, London, UK
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste were Roman soldiers who died in 320 AD in present-day Turkey after refusing to renounce Christianity, their martyrdom depicted in Orthodox iconography as a group scene showing the forty men arranged in the frozen lake where they were left to die, with the glorified Christ and angels appearing above. This 19th-century Greek icon follows the established compositional conventions of the subject, with the martyrs shown as a dense group of robed figures at the lower register, the city of Sebaste visible at right, and Christ in glory in the upper field surrounded by a celestial mandorla. The icon retains its original metal hanging loop at the top and shows the warm, earthy palette characteristic of provincial Greek icon painting of the period.
The panel is painted in tempera with careful attention to the hierarchical organization of the composition, the martyrs individuated by gesture and expression within the constraints of the devotional format. Greek renderings of this subject often incorporate inscriptions identifying the scene, and traces of Greek text are visible in the upper register. The work comes from the London collection of Valerie and John Arieta.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Greek
19th century
Tempera on wood panel
Height 13 1/4" (33.7 cm) x Width 12 3/4" (32.4 cm)
Provenance: Valerie and John Arieta, London, UK
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste were Roman soldiers who died in 320 AD in present-day Turkey after refusing to renounce Christianity, their martyrdom depicted in Orthodox iconography as a group scene showing the forty men arranged in the frozen lake where they were left to die, with the glorified Christ and angels appearing above. This 19th-century Greek icon follows the established compositional conventions of the subject, with the martyrs shown as a dense group of robed figures at the lower register, the city of Sebaste visible at right, and Christ in glory in the upper field surrounded by a celestial mandorla. The icon retains its original metal hanging loop at the top and shows the warm, earthy palette characteristic of provincial Greek icon painting of the period.
The panel is painted in tempera with careful attention to the hierarchical organization of the composition, the martyrs individuated by gesture and expression within the constraints of the devotional format. Greek renderings of this subject often incorporate inscriptions identifying the scene, and traces of Greek text are visible in the upper register. The work comes from the London collection of Valerie and John Arieta.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
