Collection

Virgin Hodegetria with the Prophets

Hryhorii Bosykovych

  • Virgin Hodegetria with the Prophets 2
  • Virgin Hodegetria with the Prophets 3
Basic information
ID
Ж-5027
Author
Hryhorii Bosykovych
Name
Virgin Hodegetria with the Prophets
Date of creation
1st half of the 16th c.
Technique
oil painting
Material
canvas oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
106 x 79
Additionally
Type
painting
Genre
religious painting
Exposition
Olesko Castle
Information about author
Author
Hryhorii Bosykovych
Biography
Hryhorii Bosykovych - a painter from Suceava. In 1532 he painted an image of Nicholas for the Myltsi monastery located in Volyn. The work bears the author's signature.
Object description
Hryhorii is credited with the icon of Virgin Hodegetria with the prophets, which belongs to the best icons of this type. In the National Gallery of Bucharest (Romania), there is a similar Bosykovych icon "Our Lady of Hodegetria", 1522, which indicates that the author repeatedly turned to this iconography. At the end of the 15th and early 16th centuries, artists slightly departed from the canonical images, changing the modelling of faces and figures and bringing elements of ideal life into the icon. Thus conditional realism in the icon by Hryhorii Bosykovych is noticeable in the poetic interpretation of the female image, in the depiction of the angels over the Mother of God. On the light blue background stands the image of the Hodegetria, the silhouette of which is somewhat reduced, with an obvious striving for plastic volume. Light ochre carnation, optimistically courageous expression of the face indicate the influence of the new Renaissance style. The prophets placed on three sides of the icon are interpreted under the influence of the last century murals. To the right, at the upper part of the work, fragments of the palette have survived, showing how much of the pictorial layering was removed from the icon during the restoration. The icon of Virgin Hodegetria with the prophets is painted in a light and resonant colour scheme.