POST MEDIEVAL RUSSIAN ICON OF CHRIST PANTOCRATOR 19th century AD A rectangular wooden icon with tempera painted scene of Christ Pantocrator (Христос Пантократор) covered by a gilded riza, holding an open book with calligraphic Cyrillic text, in a gilt oklad with openwork border and Cyrillic characters; fabric-covered reverse. 1.2 kg, 31.5 x 27cm (12 1/2 x 10 1/2"). Very fine condition. Provenance From the Alexandra collection, Somerset, UK; previously acquired by a Russian art collector from Sotheby's Amsterdam in 2004; formerly acquired between 1970 and 1972 by one of the largest industrialists from East Germany, who made his fortune in selling cement to Russia, and was subsequently part paid in icons and other important works of art by the Russian government. Footnotes After the Council of Nicea confirmed in 325 AD that Christ was the visible and perfect image of God the Father, there followed three centuries of struggle against the heresies that denied either the divine nature of Christ, such as Arianism, or his human nature, such as Monophysitism. It was finally established that the person of Christ embodied the union of two natures, human and divine. The icon of the Pantokrator became the symbol of this dogma and was an important bulwark in defence of the Orthodox faith. It traditionally depicts Christ fully frontal with the right hand raised in blessing, left hand holding a closed book with a richly decorated cover featuring the Cross, representing the Gospels. An icon where Christ has an open book is called "Christ the Teacher", a variant of the Pantocrator. The iconic image of Christ Pantocrator was one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church and remains a central icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
POST MEDIEVAL RUSSIAN ICON OF CHRIST PANTOCRATOR 19th century AD A rectangular wooden icon with tempera painted scene of Christ Pantocrator (Христос Пантократор) covered by a gilded riza, holding an open book with calligraphic Cyrillic text, in a gilt oklad with openwork border and Cyrillic characters; fabric-covered reverse. 1.2 kg, 31.5 x 27cm (12 1/2 x 10 1/2"). Very fine condition. Provenance From the Alexandra collection, Somerset, UK; previously acquired by a Russian art collector from Sotheby's Amsterdam in 2004; formerly acquired between 1970 and 1972 by one of the largest industrialists from East Germany, who made his fortune in selling cement to Russia, and was subsequently part paid in icons and other important works of art by the Russian government. Footnotes After the Council of Nicea confirmed in 325 AD that Christ was the visible and perfect image of God the Father, there followed three centuries of struggle against the heresies that denied either the divine nature of Christ, such as Arianism, or his human nature, such as Monophysitism. It was finally established that the person of Christ embodied the union of two natures, human and divine. The icon of the Pantokrator became the symbol of this dogma and was an important bulwark in defence of the Orthodox faith. It traditionally depicts Christ fully frontal with the right hand raised in blessing, left hand holding a closed book with a richly decorated cover featuring the Cross, representing the Gospels. An icon where Christ has an open book is called "Christ the Teacher", a variant of the Pantocrator. The iconic image of Christ Pantocrator was one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church and remains a central icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
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