Lot number 1464 - Auction 142
FEINE UND GROSSE IKONE MIT DER GOTTESMUTTER DES ZEICHENS (ZNAMENIE-SERAFIMO-PONETAEVSKAJA)

A LARGE AND FINE ICON SHOWING THE MOTHER OF GOD OF THE SIGN (ZNAMENIE-SERAFIMO-PONETAEVSKAYA) Russian, after 1885 Oil on wood panel. Finely executed against a golden background. The borders ornately incised and painted in faux enameling. Minor losses. 36.5 x 31.3 cm (without frame). The name of the icon originates from the Serafimo-Ponetaevskaya Convent, founded in 1864 in memory of Saint Serafim (1754/9 - 1833), whose hermitage was located near Sarov. The convent was renowned for its icon painting workshops, and in 1879, a novice named Klavdia Voiloshnikovna created a copy of an icon of the Sign, which had originally been acquired from the artist Pavel Sorokin, the head of the painting studio. Voiloshnikovna's copy featured unique characteristics in addition to the canonical elements of Sign icons-the half-length depiction of the Mother of God with her hands raised in prayer and the Christ Child encircled by a nimbus. Particularly striking are the Mother of God's eyes, which are lifted towards heaven. On May 14, 1885, the icon performed the first of many miracles, and by the end of that year, it was officially declared miracle-working by the Holy Synod.