Lot number 1867 - Auction 156
SEHR SELTENE UND GROSSE IKONE 'DIE FRÜCHTE DER PASSION CHRISTI'

A VERY RARE AND LARGE ICON 'THE FRUITS OF THE PASSION OF CHRIST' Russian, 18th century Tempera on wood panel. The haloes made of silver, covered by a golden lacquer. Minor areas of retouching. 52.5 x 43.1 cm. This theologically complex icon, entitled 'The Fruits of the Passion of Christ,' belongs to the rare mystical-didactic subjects of 18th-century Russian icon painting. The composition condenses central tenets of Christian salvation doctrine into a rich symbolic program: Crucifixion, Redemption, the defeat of Death, and the opening of Paradise. At the center rises the Cross of Christ as the Tree of Life. From the wood of the Cross spring blossoming branches-symbols of the new life emerging from Christ's sacrifice. Angels appear within the blossoms and accompany the salvific event. Above the Cross, God the Father is shown in the clouds bestowing His blessing. An angel collects the blood flowing from Christ's side wound in a chalice, a clear reference to the Eucharistic interpretation of the sacrifice. Below and to the sides unfolds a complex iconographic program: Death is vanquished, Satan bound, and Paradise opened. Symbolic hands emerging from the beams of the Cross hold a crown and a key or strike down the forces of evil-allegories of victory, judgment, and redemption. The composition combines the traditional Crucifixion scene with an allegorical visual language deriving from late 17th-century prototypes.