Hexaptych with a depiction of the Deesis in a later frame

Russian hexaptych comprising two parts, each with three leaves of equal size. The work has been placed within a newer wooden frame of the Ionian type. The Deesis is depicted almost in the centre of the hexaptych (the third leaf from the left on the first triptych): Christ is depicted seated on a throne flanked by the Virgin and Saint John the Baptist in poses of supplication. The remaining leaves contain depictions of two full-bodied saints each, all facing Christ. Saints Peter and Paul, three hierarchs, a deacon (Stephen?), the Russian saints Boris and Gleb, and two other unknown saints (Vladimir and Olga?) can be made out. It is probably a 16th-century work of the Moscow school. The gilded frame is covered in floral decoration which has a green background. In the upper part, three tetralobe divisions contain painted representations of the Hospitality of Abraham, the Holy Trinity, and the Synaxis of the Archangels. The painting style points to an Ionian workshop of the late 17th or early 18th century. A unique work, it sheds light on the circulation of Russian art-works in Orthodox SE Europe as early as the 16th century, and their reuse in new compositions and contexts.

PUBLICATION
Skampavias K. 2007. Catalogue no. 188, in Skampavias K.—Chatzidakis N. (eds), Paul and Alexandra Canellopoulos Museum.Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Art, Athens, 358–359.