Large Cretan Wooden Icon Fragment of Deesis with Christ Pantocrator and Saint John the Prodromos

Circa 1670 A.D. Depicting Christ Pantocrator and Saint John on his side, hand of Mary visible on the left; the Lord of the Universe represented seated upon a cushioned throne, the right hand in blessing gesture, the left hand holding a Gospel decorated with precious stones; wearing a blue chlamys and red sticharion; Saint John in proskynesis in front of Christ, dressed in a brown vestis talaris; the head of both surrounded by a red halo; later wire for hanging to the reverse with an information sheet in German. Cf. Pyatnitsky, Y., ?Two signed seventeenth century icons of the Cretan school from the Hermitage Museum? in Zograf 36(36), January 2012, pp.189-197, fig.1, for a similar Deesis. 1.8 kg, 57 cm (22 1/2 in.).

Ex Hargesheimen Auction House, Dusseldorf, Germany. Property of a London, UK, gentleman collector.

The icon represents a middle section from a Deesis of a church iconostasis. Although preserved as a fragment, it is designed in the high style of the late 16th century.

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