Eleven Selected Saints

Painting

-

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

Eleven Selected Saints

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.065

Description

Painting A: Tempera on slightly curved wooden panel that's been glued down the center on the back. Bordered in red, green, chocolate brown, then red again before focusing on central image. Image features Christ at the top center in red and green robes in the clouds. Below him are eleven males (six in the back and five in the front); two with rounded miter crowns, three with white head coverings, and the rest in assorted garb. All have halos with gold leaf and red Cyrillic captions within them, some also have this gold leaf in their robes. Riza B: gold colored silver riza with cloud like decorations in the four corners and in the center of the bottom and sides. In the top center, a halo and robes sit among the clouds. Eleven additional halos are present below the clouds. Three figures in the center front wear stoles with singular crosses at the top. Makers mark under bottom edge

Type of Painting

Panel

Artwork Details

Medium

Tempera

Collection

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2005.02

Source or Donor

Betsy Scheuring

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

Made/Created

Date made

1875 - 1900

Place

* Untyped Place

Central Russia

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Makers Mark

Location

Under bottom edge of riza

Transcription

unintelligable but 4 symbols

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Icon

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Symbol, Religious

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Religious Objects

Nomenclature Class

Ceremonial Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

14-3/8 in

Width

12 in

Exhibitions

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)
Surveying the Sacred: Analysis of the Scheuring Collection of Eastern Orthodox Icons (2025)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

This group painting of saints was common for traditional Byzantine/ Orthodox art. The eleven pictured saints feature church fathers, bishops, and locally venerated saints. Christ appears at the top giving his blessing. This modern painting was created to accompany the older riza which had since lost its original panel. The imagery illustrates the vestments worn by the Eastern Orthodox clergy. The long black piece of black fabric worn by the figures in the front left and back left is a epitrachilion, a part of a monk's attire. The three figures in the center wear white omophorion with blue and black cross motifs on them over their gold embroidered phelonion capes.