Name/Title
Akhtuirskaya Mother of God, TheEntry/Object ID
2005.02.016Description
Tempera on curved wooden panel with red and gold leaf border. A red Cyrillic caption sits on the bottom center, and additional captioning is to the left of the central female figure and in the upper inner corners. The female figure ( the Virgin) wears a red head veil with a white star in the center and repeated over each shoulder (this stylistic feature is common in Russian art). She is shown with both hands up over her breast with a sword in the middle (meant to indicate the sword is piercing her in the breast; a stylistic feature common in western/Catholic churches). The Virgin is only shown from the waist up. To her right, Christ is shown crucified on the cross with only a white loincloth on a dirt hill with the skull of Adam under him. Behind him is a grey city.Type of Painting
PanelArtwork Details
Subject
Akhtuirskaya/Akhtyrka/Akhtyrskaia is the Russian name for this Mother of God icon. It may also be referred to as the Okhtyrka/Okhtyrska Mother of God since the original prototype for this style of icon originated in Okhtyrka (a city in Ukraine's Sumy Oblast region) c. 1739. - Dr. Karen Kettering 2023Collection
Betsy Scheuring Icon CollectionAcquisition
Accession
2005.02Source or Donor
Betsy ScheuringAcquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Gift of Betsy ScheuringLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
IconNomenclature Primary Object Term
Symbol, ReligiousNomenclature Sub-Class
Religious ObjectsNomenclature Class
Ceremonial ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsDimensions
Height
10-1/2 inWidth
8-1/2 inDepth
1-1/4 inExhibition
Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)Interpretative Labels
Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"The praying Virgin raises both hands, nearly joining them over her breast, as she looks down thoughtfully to the right, where we see a smaller image of the Crucifixion. She is grieving over Jesus’s self-sacrifice at Golgotha, signified by human bones under the Cross, and with instruments of his Passion placed alongside. A small sword appears between the Virgin’s hands, alluding to Simeon’s prediction that a sword would pierce her heart. The artist captured perfectly the Virgin’s sad mood, and he showed her draped in a purplish-red mantle drawn across the shoulders and a tunic with an embroidered border. The icon’s quality of execution is very high and fully in the earlier Byzantine spirit."