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59-Russian Icon
The Image “Not Made By Hands”
Circa 1886
Egg tempera on wood panel
Overlaid with a silver-gilt riza
12.5" x 10.5"
James and Tatiana Jackson Collection

he end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century saw a renewed interest in ancient sacred painting. This revival produced a noteworthy amount of work. In this example of “The Image Not Made By Hands,” the artist follows the guidelines and traditions of 16th century icon painting. Here the face of Christ is not depicted in a naturalistic three-dimensional style, but in a nonrealistic, stylized manner intended to reveal the spiritual nature of the figure depicted, rather than accurate anatomical detail. Everything is abstracted from reality to depict a transfigured, timeless world in which material laws of form and substance are transcended. It is overlaid with a silver-gilt repoussé and chased riza, hallmarked Moscow, and dated 1886. It displays the Cyrillic maker’s mark of Pavel Ovchinnikov under the Imperial Warrant. Ovchinnikov was a celebrated silversmith whose company was granted the Imperial Warrant, allowing his firm to produce items for the Imperial Family.
 

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f all the Russian Saints, perhaps there is none revered and loved as much as Sergiy of Radonezh. He was born in 1313 in Rostov of devout parents, Kiril and Maira. After the death of his parents, Bartholomew (his baptismal name) became a monk and founded the monastery of the Holy Trinity in the forest of Radonezh. He was made worthy of the gifts of wonderworking. The Mother of God appeared to him a number of times. Princes and Bishops came to him for counsel, and he gave his blessing to Prince Dimitri of the Don, and foretold the victory in Russia’s war against the Tartars. The community he founded flourished in his lifetime and continues to flourish today. After his death in 1392 he appeared a number of times to various people. This icon depicts Sergiy wearing the Great Skema, delivering a blessing and holding a scroll. The scroll is symbolic of his spiritual wisdom. The icon is unique in that it apparently depicts an existing icon of Sergiy that apparently is decorated with a gilded metal cover (riza) and encrusted with jewels. The faint inscriptions above each shoulder identify him as “The Holy Venerable Sergiy, Wonder Worker of Radonezh.” The reverse of the icon displays a hand-written dedicatory inscription that reads, “Blessings from Ekaterina Nikolayevna Nzhelova, maiden name Golovina, to the young boy Sergiy Preobrazhenskiy. September 27, 1894.” This icon was most likely purchased at the Holy Trinity Monastery, and probably depicts a popular icon of Saint Sergiy which is kept there.