Dormition of the Holy Virgin

Iconography:  Dormition of the Holy Virgin

Date: XVI century.

Iconographic school/art center:  Pskov icon-painting school

Origin: From the church of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Pskov

Material: Wood, levkas, tempera

Dimensions:  height 67 cm, width 91 cm

The icon from the Festival row dates back to one of the iconographic types which was well-known in the Russian art of the late 14th – beginning of the 15th century. Its specific features – the pose of Christ bowing His head to the deathbed of Our Lady and His double glorious halo with the depiction of the host of angels. A number of iconographic features of each of the interceding apostles and the figures of the two saints standing along the sides of the composition also date back to the Moscow icons of the early 15th century. To the right is represented the saint Ignatius the “Theophorus”, to the left – the saint Hiertheus of Athens mentioned as Dorotheus in the inscription by mistake. The icon has a specific feature: the episode with the punishment of Hebrew Aufonius which rarely appeared in the icons of the Festival row of iconostasis.

Inv. № 1665. © Pskov State United Historical, Architectural and Fine Arts Museum-Reserve

Bibliography: Васильева О.А. Иконы Пскова. М., 2006. № 48. С. 186.

  • General view