Russian School (Early 19th Century)

Artist: Russian School (Early 19th Century).
Title: St John The Baptist holding the Cup of Christ, surrounded by Twelve Saints.
Medium: Tempera on wooden panel.
Condition: The panel has several losses and evidence of previous old restoration, there is a bow to the panel due to missing shponki (slats). A more recent repair is to split down the centre of the icon. The Icon has been used as a devotional piece and the wear is consistent with the nature of the item. Restoration is consistent with 19th-century practices.
Provenance: Private Collection Sydney
Inscriptions and Markings: Inscriptions verso in Cyrillic, likely being the location of the Orthodox church that commissioned the work. Label verso top right reading “B-VII-PGN 116”, with a small label to the side of icon “YS92/”

About: Russian Icon of St John the Baptist holding the cup of Christ. This is an early 19th-century icon displaying imagery from the Orthodox liturgy, in which a part of the eucharistic bread is called the agnets, the “Lamb”, with the bread in the liturgy being Christ. St John is portrayed holding a footed diskos, the “dish” in the liturgy that holds the bread with the bread being representative of the body of Christ. The Cyrillic inscription to St John’s scroll is a variation of the gospel readings and the twelve apostles surrounding St John and Christ with St John repeating top right are named underneath in Cyrillic.