Russian Christian Icon: St John the Baptist and Jesus, with oklad, 18th century. St John the Baptist holds a bowl with Jesus child with left hand. Why Jesus as a child? -May be to show immaturity of the soul before baptizing. Right hand makes a gesture of baptizing. There is a leave from the bible with a short message in old Slavic language. There are two inscriptions on the metal oklad: in the left corner 4 letters (probably for St John); in the right corner 3 letters PRE, which means pure. Height: 14 inches = 36 cm. Width: 12 inches = 31.5 cm. Weight: 1670 g = 3 lb. 10 oz. A lot of carved writings on the back in Old Russian Staroslavic language.
Condition Notice several scattered small areas of loss of the paint, otherwise in very good preservation for this age.
Low Estimate: 5000;
High Estimate: 10000;
Medium: Tempera;
Circa: 1750;