Yaroslavl icon of the Mother of God, with the Deesis tier and the Selected Saints
Iconography: Deisus row, Parasceva of Iconium (Pyatnitsa), the Great Martyress, John the Evangelist, St., Barbara, St., Demetreus of Thessaloniki, the Great Martyr, John the Chrysostom, St., Yaroslavskaya icon of the Mother of God
Date: XVI century. First half of the XVIth century
Origin: removed from the Nikolskaya church in the village of Nyonoks of the Archangelskaya region (1762)
Material: Wood, cut-back central portion, canvas, levkas, tempera
Dimensions: height 64,5 cm, width 51,5 cm
In the centerpiece is shown the Mother of God with the Divine Child Whose right hand seems to support the chin of Our Lady and His left hand is holding a folded scroll which makes this icon different from the other Yaroslavl icons of the Mother of God where the left hand of the Divine Child holds the edge of Her omophoion. On the upper border of the icon is depicted Deesis with the Savior Not Made by Hands in the centre – the feature of many northern icons. Deesis includes the depictions of saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (instead of the Holy Virgin), prophet John the Forerunner, archangels Michael and Gabriel. On the left and on the right borders below and on the lower border are shown the waist-length frontal depictions of saint John the Goldenmouth, Apostle John the Theologian, great martyrs Parasceva named “Friday” and Barbara and great martyr Demetrius.
Registration number ДРЖ-1296. © State Museum Association «Art Culture of the Russian North»
Bibliography:
Иконы Русского Севера. Шедевры древнерусской живописи Архангельского музея изобразительных искусств. М., 2007. Т. 1. № 25. С. 126.
General view