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Detail from Russian icon; 30.5 x 22.2
cm. The code open in the left hand reads, "Come to me,
all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest" (from Matthew 11.28) in an old Russian script and
dialect.
Long admired for their evocative abstract imagery, Russian religious
icons have seen a sharp rise in scholarly and commercial interest
since the dissolution of the Soviet Union opened new opportunities
for study and sale. Following an inquiry from one of the leading
scholars in the United States on Russian art, the Art Collection
staff uncovered its modest but interesting cache of Russian icons
in The Vault. (Readers may recall that the splendid late nineteenth
century silver gilt icon of Saint Nicholas, on display in Carroll
Parlor, illustrated the Library’s holiday card in 2002).
In late June, Wendy Salmond, associate professor of art history
at Chapman University in Orange, California, visited Georgetown
University to see the seven pieces in the collection. Prof. Salmond
has been the author of or contributor to many books on Russian
art (including catalogues of works from the Hillwood Museum in
Washington), on topics such as traditional icons, the Art Nouveau
era, imperial art, folk art, modern art, and stage design. She
was the curator for the exhibition Traditions in Transition:
Russian Icons in the Age of the Romanovs at Hillwood last year.
Russian artists imaginatively adapted international styles in
meeting the needs of icon production. Prof. Salmond identified
two Georgetown pieces, a Christ and a Saint Prince
Vladimir,
as copies of work by the influential muralist Victor Vasnetsov
(1848–1926), who desired to “update” the icon
style, incorporating “Pre-Raphaelite” and “realist” approaches
from earlier in the nineteenth century into his work. A combination
painted and bas relief depiction of Saint George is surrounded
by an ostentatious frame in what was called the “Neo-Russian” style,
an answer to Art Nouveau. The famous “onion-dome” style
of Russian churches forms the shape of a folding icon with a
painting of Christ inside. Illustrated here is a nineteenth century
painting on wood of Christ, more traditional in its flat, linear
style but striking in its orange border and decorated, according
to Prof. Salmond, with foliate patterns typical of icons from
Siberia.
We would like to thank Prof. Salmond for taking the time to
examine these interesting pieces from the Art Collection and
to share her insights.
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