5. Icon on glass, "The Lamentation of Jesus", painter Savu Moga, Arpașu de Sus, Făgăraș, February 17, 1848, extremely rare collector's item

The central scene pictures Jesus’ placement in the tomb: two apostles holding the shroud at his head and feet, two angels lifting it in the front. In the background, Mary is surrounded by the holy women and the archangels, seraphs are floating in the air and the thrones lie above the cross. In the corners, the four Evangelists are represented in medallions, with minutely-drawn features. In the upper part, between the medallions and the arch of the central scene, two sceneries can be distinguished: Mount Golgotha on the right and the city of Jerusalem on the left. The refined brown shading lends volume to the silhouettes, and the folds drawn in black or white articulate the lively-coloured attire. "Plângerea" ("The Lamentation") is one of Moga’s masterpieces, illustrating his artistic talent, although, for some of the scenes, he got his inspiration from the engravings of old religious books. (M.B.) Conservation status: two fissures are present on the bottom left corner.

Dimensions

width 62 cm, height 57 cm, custom 57 × 62 cm

Description

tempera and gold foil on glass, stained frame, dated, signed, located, bottom centred in Cyrillic characters, in Romanian, with red: "1848 februare 17 Savu Moga zug. d[in] Arpa(ș)"

Research information

So far, only one icon having this iconographic theme has been encountered, in a private collection from Cârțișoara. A similar icon has been published in "Pictura țărănească pe sticlă" ("Rural Glass Painting"), by Iuliana and Dumitru Dancu, Bucharest, 1975, p. 75.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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