Icon depicting the Virgin Skopiotissa (or Virgin of Mount Skopos) - 18th century

Height x width: 85 x 63 cm
Tempera on panel
a rare post-Byzantine icon attributable to the production of the Cretan-Venetian School or the Ionian Islands. The work is distinguished by the exceptional bilingual inscription in Latin and Greek characters placed on either side of the faces: “La Beata V. De SCOPO” and the traditional Greek initials MP ΘV (Mother of God).
It represents the celebrated and specific iconography of the Virgin Skopiotissa, originating from the Monastery of Panagia Skopiotissa on Mount Skopos, on the island of Zakynthos, a cult deeply shared between the Greek Orthodox tradition and Venetian rule in the Eastern Mediterranean.
From a compositional perspective, the icon reinterprets the classical model of the Hodegetria (“She Who Shows the Way”): the Virgin is depicted in half-length form against a splendid bright red background, holding the frontal Christ Child on her left arm, dressed in a gold-highlighted tunic. Mary’s right hand is raised to her chest in an elegant gesture of prayer and intercession. The halos of the Virgin and the Child display an elaborate geometric and floral punched decoration on gold leaf, typical of the refined craftsmanship of 17th-century Cretan art. A scenographically and culturally significant element is the presence of two heavy green draperies gathered at the sides, painted as if opening to reveal the sacred Marian epiphany. This theatrical and perspectival device represents an explicit stylistic borrowing from Venetian Renaissance and Baroque art, skilfully fused with the hieratic solemnity and linear features of the faces (liki) derived from the Byzantine tradition.



Item condition grading: **** good.
The lot is in a good state of preservation with the normal wear and defects commensurate with its age and use over time.