354

Travel triptych depicting the Deesis, 19th century

Bronze casting with polychrome enamels

Height x width: 14 × 36 cm Weight: 1058 g.

In the central panel appears Christ Pantocrator, while in the lateral panels the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist are depicted in an attitude of intercession, according to the traditional scheme. In this triptych, however, the Baptist is portrayed in the guise of the “Angel of the Desert,” an Eastern iconography that endows him with wings, symbolizing his ascetic life and his role as a divine messenger. The Child he holds in his hands is not a terrestrial infant, but a foreshadowing of Christ the Lamb, presented to the world by the Forerunner as a living sacrifice for the salvation of humanity. The outer panel is characterized by a circular frame at the center of which stands the image of the Cross of Golgotha. This is set within a broader square framework; in the spandrels—that is, in the spaces between the circle and the square—are placed the symbols of the four Evangelists. The symbol of the Passion stands out against a scenographic background, where the turreted walls of Jerusalem and the complex volumes of buildings evoke the Holy City according to the visionary aesthetic of the Russian tradition. In the corner spaces between the central roundel and the outer border also appear the symbols of the Evangelists. Such objects, generally small in size, were intended for private devotion. Their portability allowed them to be easily carried and, if necessary, concealed, thus meeting the religious needs of a community which, following the schism known as the Raskol, experienced periods of persecution by the official Russian Orthodox Church.