Icon - Wood - Virgin and Child

Polychrome Icon "Deesis" - Virgin and Child with Saints | Post-Byzantine Greek | Late 18th–19th Century | Tempera/Gold/Wood

Rare post-Byzantine panel icon with a multi-figure composition depicting the Deesis (prayer/intercession), a major motif of the Greek Orthodox tradition. This piece combines an authentic egg tempera technique and gesso preparation with rich iconography featuring the Virgin and Child in the central register, flanked by saints of the Orthodox Christian tradition.

Composition and Iconography

The work is organized according to a classic multi-register system:
- Main central register: Virgin of Tenderness (Éleousa) holding the Child Jesus
- Side registers: saints, bishops, doctors, and ascetics with golden halos
- Upper/lower registers: complementary biblical figures (angels, prophets, other saints)

The inscriptions in Ancient Greek (partially visible) attest to the Hellenic provenance and allow precise identification of the venerated saints. This enriched composition reflects the post-Byzantine practice of transforming a simple Deesis into a commemorative icon or reliquary, incorporating figures of local or monastic veneration.

Materials and Methods

Support: A panel assembled from hardwood (probably limewood or poplar), reinforced by internal braces — standard technique of eighteenth–nineteenth-century Greek productions.

Painting: egg tempera on white gesso (chalk/lime-based preparation), an authentic and irreversible technique documented for this period.

Colorful Palette:

- Gold leaf background (halos, liturgical details)
- Classical mineral pigments: natural ochres (flesh), azurite (deep blues), vermilion (reds), black carbon (contours)
- Uniform historical patina, without modern synthetic intervention.

Condition

Excellent overall condition for its age (estimated 200–250 years):

- ✓ Stable wooden structure, no worm-eaten wood
- ✓ Natural aging cracks (signature of authenticity, without invasive consolidation)
- ✓ Adherent paint layer, light patina wear (not repainted)
- ✓ Gilding preserved, yellowed hue historically normal.
- ✓ Varnish absent or minimal (favors authenticity, avoids modern interventions)

Observations: Slight mechanical wear on the edges (compatible with historic handling). No systematic lifting of the gesso. A coherent set suggesting careful family or monastic preservation.

Dimensions and Format

- Height: 37.5 cm
- Width: 27.5 cm
- Depth: ~3-4 cm (assembled panel)
- Format: Intermediate — portable/domestic icon or secondary altarpiece

Attribution and Dating

Dating: Late 18th — Early 19th century
- Tempera-gesso technique (standard usage until around 1850)
- Post-Byzantine style (humanized iconography, facial modeling)
Direct merchant comparables: Deesis icon, Greece, late 18th–early 19th century, Millon Paris 2020 (27.5 × 22.6 cm)

Geographic Origin: Greece or Cyprus (Byzantine tradition post-Ottoman)
- Production during or just after the Ottoman occupation period (strong local demand)
- Iconography and Greek inscriptions confirm a Hellenic origin
- Style consistent with Greek schools of the Dodecanese or Crete

Authenticity Confirmed:

- Historical materials (old wood, mineral pigments, traditional gesso)
- Irreversible technique (egg tempera — impossible to imitate in modern times without expertise)
- Natural aging of wood and spiral cracks (a time-related feature)
- No large-scale repainting or invasive synthetic interventions

It will be shipped securely, well packed in shockproof materials (reinforced bubble wrap + rigid cardboard).