Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004.
Part of diptych cat. no. 36-37:
[NMI 294-295]

Wood: Linden (Tilia sp.), egg tempera.
Panel made of single board without
splines, on batten holes from pintles
which held an end-piece now lost, raised
borders along all sides except for right.

PROVENANCE: Vilhelm Assarsson (”North
Russia, 14th century”); Åke Wiberg;
Anders Wiberg; Acquired by the Museum
in 1965
EXHIBITIONS: Stockholm 1988, no 1–2; Aarhus
1993, not in catalogue; Copenhagen
1996, nos 169 – 170
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Assarssons samling (2:3–4);
NM annual report 1965, p 17; Smirnova
1984, pp 60–70; Smirnova 1986; Abel
1989:1, p 12; Abel 1996:1

CONSERVATION: [Cat. no 37]
See previous no; NM 1995:
test patch on left hand and clothing
showing the original paint layers (Y.
Bobrov) Cracks in lower part of panel;
lower section badly damaged, with losses of
wood, paint layers and ground; ground and
paint layers missing along right border; surface
abraded; varnish yellowed; lower part of panel
badly wormeaten.

CONSERVATION: [Information from cat.no 36]
Restored prior to entering
NM: Extensively renovated, probably at
about the turn of the century 1900, various
overpaintings removed; highlights and patterns
in white paint improved; new background
of darker red over the original cinnabar;
inscriptions reconstructed; new
ground and paint layer for lower part and
borders; NM 1965–66: new ground and
painting on bottom parts and on borders
removed, secondary raised border along
inner sides removed, darkened varnish re -
moved (B.Titov); 1995: cat.no 36: test patch
in upper left corner showing original red
colour (Y. Bobrov). Minor cracks in upper
and lower parts of panel; serious damage to
lower section and along the upper border,
with losses of wood, ground and paint later;
ground and paint layers missing along left
border; surface abraded; varnish yellowed;
lower part of icon badly worm-eaten

Whereas the identity of the male figure
is perfectly clear, the female figure pres -
ents more of a problem. The cross in
her right hand and the gesture with her
left – held upwards and with the palm
towards the beholder – indicates that
this is a martyr, at the same time as the
omophorion shows that she may be a
nun. If so, the figure could, for example,
represent one of the martyrs Ustinia or
Evdokia. Identification is complicated,
however, by the three stars of virginity
on the figure’s omophorion, which
usually only occur in depictions of the
Mother of God, and also by the doubly
patterned tunics. Future technical examinations
will have to show whether
the stars and the patterns are original.
The inward looking gaze of the two
figures suggests that there was once a
central section, which may have been
occupied by the Mother of God, stand -
ing or enthroned or by Christ.1 It is
also possible that a representation of St
Nicholas was positioned there.2 Smirnova’s
surmise that the icons were done
on different kinds of wood has been
disproved by technical examination.3
The structure of the carnation, with
olive-green shades for the prim ing,
suggests an early date. The massive
figural drawing, the clear colours ap -
plied in complete fields, the red background
and the yellow halo, place this
icon within the Novgorod region.
Smirnova has pointed out the resemblances
between the patterns of this icon
and those found in the icon of Nicholas
of Lipna, dated 1294, as well as on
some of the border scenes of the St
Nicholas icon mentioned in note 2.4
Technical features such as the thin
gesso ground and the lack of a linen
cloth point to a somewhat provincial
workshop.
Smirnova dates these icons to the first
half of the 14th century. On technical
and stylistic grounds, they could quite
well be dated to the late 13th century.5
1 Cf. the Mother of God of Peshchora, c. 1288,
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (inv. no 12723);
Bruk 1995, p 70.
2 Cf. the icon St Nicholas, St Cosmas and St
Damian with scenes from the Life of St Nicholas,
Russian Museum, St Petersburg (inv. no 3032),
Smirnova 1976, pp 199, 300.
3 Smirnova 1984, p 64.
4 ibid., pp 65-66.
5 Abel 1996:1, p 15.
[slut]