Icons

A monumental calendar icon for the liturgical year (sale 189, lot 328)

Tempera on wood. In the very center is the Descent of Christ into Hell. Around them are twelve groupings of saints over twenty registers: one for each month of the calendar year beginning from September, the first month of the traditional Russian calendar, on the upper right corner. The composition rendered mainly in blue, red and green, some of the details gilded. Against a golden background, golden haloes. Russia, 19th century. 104,5 x 76 cm. This is a characteristic example of an icon illustrating the church feasts and saints commemorated throughout the liturgical year. Such large icons were commissioned to decorate churches, where they were put in places easily accessible to parishioners.