Post-Byzantine Icon Painting in the Collection of the Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icons

When creating the museum, philanthropist and collector Mikhail Abramov planned to focus on Russian icons, hence the name. But when chance or inspiration pushed him to expand the usual framework, he responded to this call. Thanks to this, works of Byzantine applied art appeared in the collection, and a little later – post-Byzantine icon painting and a number of items of Greek temple decoration.

Most of the monuments were acquired from the collector and antique dealer Serafim Dritsoulas (Munich, Germany), others from the famous Richard Temple Gallery (London, Great Britain), as well as from private individuals and at auctions. A number of monuments presented in the exposition are provided to the museum for temporary storage from the collection of Alexei Leonidovich Rastorguev. 

Post-Byzantine Icon Painting in the Collection of the Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icons

The collection of post-Byzantine icon painting is located in a separate hall of the museum and includes Greek icons created by the masters of Crete and the Balkans, as well as items of temple decoration.

According to the idea of the museum’s creator, the altar area is reconstructed in the hall, which gives an idea of the Greek temple structure. The entrance to it is preceded by an altar barrier of the late XVII — early XVIII century with the Crucifixion scene on its top. It includes the icons of the Sovereign and the Feasts rows, framed in magnificent carved frames, made, like the carving of the columns, in the European Baroque style. The altar barrier with columns and the concluding architrave is a typical small architectural form that originated in the churches of early Byzantium and has survived to the present day.

Altar barrier. Late XVII — early XVIII century. Greece

The traditional decoration of the Greek temple includes the church lighting device under the ceiling of the hall — a wooden carved choros of the XVII-XVIII centuries. There was a custom to unwind the choros with lit candles at certain moments of the evening service, and then the light of candles and lamps moving under the church dome symbolically represented the sky with stars. This custom has been preserved in Athonite monasteries until the present time.

Carved choros. XVII–XVIII centuries. Greece

The pride of the museum is the collection of icons created by the masters of the Mediterranean island of Crete, where many artists from the capital emigrated after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Although the island had been under the protectorate of Venice since 1213, the Orthodox culture of the local Greeks was not infringed. Cretan icons were in wide demand throughout the Mediterranean: they were purchased by large Orthodox monasteries, wealthy Greek homes in the Peloponnese and Venice, as well as Catholic churches and monasteries in Italy and Northern Europe since the Catholic Church did not impose prohibitions on prayer before Orthodox images.

The leading masters of Crete usually worked in both Byzantine and Western styles. Individual artists specialized in one of them. The famous Angelos Akotantos, who emigrated from Constantinople, painted in the style of the capital’s art, only supplementing his works with borrowings from the Venetian Gothic. An icon of the middle — third quarter of the 15th century associated with his workshop is exhibited in the center of the hall.

The Mother of God (Glycophilus). Middle — third quarter of the 15th century. The workshop of Angelos Akotantos

In some Cretan monuments of the 16th century, the adherence to the artistic norms of Venetian masters as well as an appeal to Western iconography is more noticeable. An example of this is the icon of the Mother of God with the Child, John the Baptist, and the Great Martyr Catherine from the first quarter of the 16th century.

The Mother of God with the Child, John the Baptist, and Great Martyr Catherine. The first quarter of the 16th century. Cretan master

The rich culture of Crete ceased to exist in 1669: the island was conquered by the army of the Turkish Sultan. Post-Byzantine icon painting workshops of the Cretans moved to the islands of the Ionian Sea. The icons created here remained generally faithful to the ancient Orthodox tradition, while Western influences came through engravings, which can be seen in the example of the Feasts tier of the first half of the XVIII century, presented in the hall.

The Feasts tier. The first half of the XVIII century. Greece

The exposition of the museum also gives an idea of the iconography of the Balkans. Unlike Crete, the Balkan Peninsula was under Turkish rule from the mid-15th to the 19th century. The icons created here remained purely traditional and were replicas of earlier images. The most artistic in the XV-XVI centuries were the icons created in the monasteries of Mount Athos, where the masters of Thessaloniki, the second Byzantine artistic center after Constantinople, left after the city’s fall in 1430.

An example of a high-class post-Byzantine icon painting in the Balkans is the image of St. Athanasius of Alexandria from the first half of the 16th century, which repeats the iconography and style of Byzantine icons of the 14th century.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria. The first half of the XVI century. Collection of A. L. Rastorguev

The collection of post-Byzantine icon painting at the Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icons is small but significant in terms of the composition and quality of the monuments presented. It invariably attracts visitors — many Russian viewers are discovering it for the first time. Everyone can admire the collection with their own eyes — the museum, created to popularize Christian art, is free of charge for visitors.

The text was prepared by the staff of the Mikhail Abramov Museum of Russian Icons