19th Century Russian School Icon, The Mother of God (Possibly Tikhvinskaya)

Artist: Russian School (19th Century).
Title: The Mother of God (Possibly Tikhvinskaya).
Medium: Tempera on wooden panel.
Condition: Work is in fair to good condition with some loss and wear consistent with age and use with evidence of previous guilding in areas.
Provenance: Purportedly Ex Collection of Alitalia CEO, the collection was held in Japan for several decades and later moved to Australia.

About: This Icon depicts The Mother of God wearing a maphorion and mantle adorned with Bethlehem stars. Christ is portrayed as a child with his right leg bent under his left revealing his bare sole.

This Icon, The Mother of God Tikhvinskaya first appeared circa 1383 with the origins of its creation within the Orthodox faith stemming back to the famous apostle and evangelist Luke. The Inscriptions on the icon are all relating to the identification of Mary Mother of God and Christ the Saviour. Often these Inscriptions are a variation of both Greek script as well as Cyrillic.

There also appears to be evidence of a faint preliminary drawing verso to the panel, possibly relating to this piece or another.