On the eve of the Easter holidays, a collection of Greek and Russian icons with a wide regional and international distribution is being auctioned, as well as a special selection of Romanian icons, some of which belong to the Romanian Renaissance period, from Matei Basarab to Constantin Brankovianu. The icons up for auction on Tuesday, April 11, are representative of Orthodox religious art that developed in Eastern Europe from the 16th century and were created in important schools of church painting, from Ścheii Brașovului, Săliștea Sibiului and Caldăruşani to Moscow and St. Petersburg , and many of them are signed or attributed to famous authors.

Perhaps the oldest and most important icon in the auction is the royal woodcut “The Virgin and Child (Tikhvinska)”, an extremely rare cult work belonging to the Russian school of the time of the first Russian Tsar Ivan IV. , known as Grozny (1530-1584). The starting price of the big icon is 4,000 euros.

Another impressive revelation, not only a symbol of faith, but also an expression of beauty and artistic sensibility, is the royal icon of the 18th century on carved wood “St. Nicholas the Wonderworker”, which belongs to the Transylvanian-Russian school. The starting price of the museum collection is 2,000 euros.

From the period of Mateus Basarab comes the wooden icon “The Crucifixion of the Lord”, which is the central panel of a triptych, made in the style characteristic of the traditional Greek school. The rare piece was made in the first half of the century. XVII and has a starting price of 4,000 euros.

Among the most important and specific of the Transylvanian school are the glass icons attributed to the artist Ioan Pop from Fegerash. At a starting price of 400 euros, the icon “Good News” is put up for auction. The rare work was produced in 1856, and currently only three icons on this iconographic theme made by Ioan Pope are known: one in the heritage of the National Art Museum of Romania, one in the museum collection of the Orthodox Archdiocese of Alba Iulia and one in a private collection. The icon “Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker” is attributed to the same artist, the initial price of which is only 350 euros (another one on the same subject is in the Museum collection of the Orthodox Archdiocese – Alba-Iulia).

In the auction on Tuesday, April 11, there is also a sketch of the icon, executed in charcoal by Štefan Lukyan. Among the occupations of the artist, who was trying to support himself in Bucharest, was the painting of icons, the historical confirmation of which is the sketch “Saint John the Apostle and the Evangelist”. The starting price of the work signed by Stefan Lucian is only 600 euros.

The icons of the collection, which offer an insight into religious values ​​and cultural traditions, are on display these days, on the occasion of Holy Week, in the Česianu-Rakovica Palace, and will be auctioned on Tuesday, April 11, starting at 7:00 p.m. Interested parties can participate in the auction as physically, at Artmark House headquarters – CA Rosetti Street, no. 5, as well as by phone or through the Artmark Live 2.0 platform by opening an account to participate in the online auction in real time.

Article supported by A10 by Artmark