Icon with St Athanasios and St George
Origin
Greece
Object Date
Late 18th century
Metric Dims
H. 22cm; W. 9cm
Inventory Number
Reg. no. BEP 1998,1105.8
Additional Details
(Cormack 88)
Provenance
Given by Ella Wentworth Dyne Steel in 1998.
The icon is painted in egg tempera on wood primed with gesso. Above is St Athanasios in white vestments, holding a Gospel book and with his right hand making a gesture of blessing. Below St George is dressed in a cuirass and red cloak, he rides a white horse with red trappings and slays a dragon. Inscription in cursive Greek letters. The back is unpainted.
Although dated on the blue label on the back by The Temple Gallery as ‘9th to the 16th century’, it is here attributed to the late 18th century. More investigation is needed into the painting of the ground and the inscriptions—they may not be original, which might mean this is not St Athanasios. This leads to the further question whether this wing might actually be related to cat. no. 25 as part of the same triptych.
Literature: R. Cormack, Icons, London, 2007 (repr. 2014), 134, no. 88.
Robin Cormack and Maria Vassilaki