OLD MASTER, 19TH-CENTURY PAINTINGS AND ICONS

Emmanuel Tzanes (Rethymno 1610 - Venice 1690) attributed The Ascension of Christ Tempera and gold on panel 119 × 69 cm A close examination of this Cretan-Venetian icon, datable to the second half of the seventeenth century, reveals a combination of stylistic and technical features that recall the work of Emmanuel Tzanes. The panel appears to be made of spruce, a wood widely used in Venice for its particular resistance to humidity. Stylistically, several distinctive elements associated with the Cretan master converge here: the extreme simplification of the landscape; the nervous and highly characteristic rendering of the vegetation, whether cypresses or olive trees; the elongated, conical treatment of the figures’ necks; and, finally, the distinctive technique employed in the rendering of beards and hair. Of particular interest is the artist’s Venetian interpretation of the icon, most notably in the exquisite gold embroidery of the Virgin’s robe. This detail recalls the Byzantine-influenced Venetian painting of Lorenzo Veneziano and the Venetian school of the fourteenth century. The iconography of the Ascension of Christ has its roots in Early Christian representations. Although the Virgin is not mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, she appears in representations of the Ascension only after the Council of Ephesus in 431. She symbolically represents the Church on earth, standing present without turning her gaze towards heaven. Positioned at the centre of the group of Apostles, she also serves as a symbol of the Incarnation of Christ. In heaven, two angels raise the luminous aureole surrounding the blessing Christ, while two others, dressed in white, announce His return to the Apostles. It is also noteworthy that the Apostles are once again depicted as twelve: following Judas’s betrayal, Matthias was chosen to take his place.

Lot details