"john the baptist - angel of the desert". Andreas ritsos, school / second half of the 16th century, northern greece. Wood (reliquary), tempera, gilding. 45. 7x37 cm. The pushkin museum zh-4696 pre-museum restoration. Solid board, dowels, reliquary. Loss of gesso and paint layer, lost areas have been restored, overprints, scroll rewritten. Counts. Inscriptions: greek "st. John the baptist"; on the scroll, slavonic "pokaytes have brought closer to the church of god" (matt. 3:2). Iconographic information: john the baptist winged is presented frontally in an iconographic version known since the palaiologan era. The later slavic inscription on the scroll: "repent, for have come near the church of god" (matthew 3:2) is evidence of the icon's existence in the slavic environment. Stylistic information: the style of the icon follows the byzantine tradition, obviously copying a late palaeologus model. This is evidenced by the balanced composition, the culture of personal writing, the classicistic interpretation of the figure and hills, large gaps and olive shadows on the cloak. The engraving in places does not match the drawing. The imitation of the "byzantine" style, the technique of writing, the dense coloring, the combination of the bright blue color of the mantle and the green cloak, as well as the red field on the ark, undoubtedly indicate that the icon originated in northern greece, possibly macedonia. Date: 16th century.
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