This central leaf of a triptych, with slightly raised integral frame, is set in another frame, wood-carved and gilded. In the upper part of the latter, two small flying angels carved in the round crown the head of a cherub, above which rises a globus cruciger. The sides are decorated with fretwork vine branches and the base with a dense vegetal guilloche in the middle of which is a smooth escutcheon for incising a coat of arms, within an ornate baroque surround. The style of the frame points probably to the Ionian Islands. In the middle of the upper part of the icon there is an arch.
The representation reproduces in miniature and with considerable fidelity the well-known creation by Michael Damaskenos (1535-1593), which is kept in the church of Saint Catherine of the Sinaites in Herakleion (Icons of Cretan Art 1993, no. 97, 451-453 – M. Constantoudaki-Kitromilidou).
Read moreDepicted on the left is the Virgin sitting with legs crossed low down, on which she holds the half-naked infant Christ, who blesses the approaching Magi. Lower down, Joseph observes the scene. Behind the Virgin is a stone building with two smooth columns, an arched doorway and a small casement, reminiscent of the “Roman ruins” so popular in Mannerist art. In front of the Virgin with the newborn Christ are the three Magi; the most elderly Magus is dressed in an opulent golden green mantle of Venetian textile, trimmed with ermine at the neck. He is already kneeling and offering his gift, inside a round casket.
Behind him stands the imposing figure of the second Magus, a mature man with short beard. On his head is a gold crown and round his neck is a heavy gold chain with pendant. He is half swathed in a scarlet cloak, which chromatically dominates the whole scene. Behind and beside him is the third Magus, dark-skinned, beardless and wearing a turban. With the right hand both figures proffer their gifts in containers resem¬bling chalices. Crowded behind them is a host of servants, soldiers and pack-animals, which fills the icon. At the centre, on a second level rises a steep mountain, from the left side of which appear three loaded camels and two camel-drivers in tall conical fezzes. In contrast to the model Damaskenos, in which the ground was gold a choir of venerating angels, the sky here is rendered in a naturalistic manner with many dense clouds, pierced by a ray of light shining from the star of Bethlehem. The whole composition is deeply influenced by Italian, and particularly Venetian, painting of the sixteenth century. The only Byzantine elements are the jagged rocky mountain, the figure of Joseph and the red shoes of the Virgin.
