Bulgaria, Kingdom. An Icon Of Christ And The Theotokos With Selected Saints, C.1825

A well-preserved and beautifully-presented icon depicting an interesting assembly of figures. Constructed of a gessoed wooden base inserted with dual reverse slats to mitigate warping, the obverse of the icon depicts a multi-coloured, hand-painted image of the Theotokos holding the infant Christ, with the former pointing toward her son, who is in turn reaching out to her. The pair are flanked on the left by the Archangel Michael and on the right by the Archangel Gabriel. Divided at the lower third by a black-painted bar, the lower portion of the image depicts a synaxis of various saints. Beginning from left to right, it features St. Symeon the Stylite, St. Nicholas of Myra, St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki, and St. Theodore Tiron. All figures are surrounded by names and titles in Cyrillic-script Slavonic. A partially-legible artist’s name is visible at the lower left corner, along with a date of “1825”. Notably glued to the obverse is a ribbon suspending a silver coin bearing the image of Christian Ulrich I, Duke of Württemberg-Oels (who held titles in Württemberg duchies between 1669 and 1704), likely intended as a donation or offering for intercessory prayers. The reverse has been riveted with a modern magnetic metal suspension loop at the top, and handwritten names have been added to further identify the figures in the image. It measures 29 cm (w) x 35 cm (h) overall. Issues consistent with age are evident, and include minor, sporadic chipping to the gessoed base of the image resulting in loss of paint, scratching of the wooden base, and a possible period repair or reinforcement to the lower right corner when viewed from the reverse. Demonstrating an artistic style most likely consistent with early Bulgarian (or possibly Romanian) style, this folk-style icon remains in a near extremely fine condition.

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