Kazanskaya Mother of God, The

Painting

-

Purdue University Galleries

Name/Title

Kazanskaya Mother of God, The

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.035

Description

Tempera on curved wooden panel with red, teal, and silver leaf border. There is cursive script in pen on the back. In the border margins are two figures, one male (left) and one female (right) both with black Cyrillic script above their heads. In the focal image, the Virgin is painted from the breast up in magenta head veil with gold embroidery and white star motifs over her forehead and right shoulder. The Christ child is pictured on her left upright from the knees up with one hand raised in the three finger blessing gesture. He is clothed in a blue tunic with gold embroidery and a red cloak.

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

Time Period

19th Century

Place

* Untyped Place

Moscow, Russia

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

12-1/4 in

Width

10-1/2 in

Depth

1-5/8 in

Exhibition

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

In this variation of the Kazanskaya type, the Virgin has a round face with firm chin and looks directly at the spectator, as the Christ child (of squarish proportion) looks to one side while making a gesture of blessing. Both figures’ garments have an embroidered border, and the Virgin’s cloak is ornamented with characteristic little stars over the forehead and at the shoulder. Miniature figures of name saints of the family who owned this icon appear in the left and right border. The style is a diluted version of the Byzantine manner.