Museum complex

FOUR PART FOLDING ICON - "THE TWELVE GREAT FEASTS AND THE WORSHIP OF ICONS OF THE THEOTOKOS»

Vygo-Leksino Old believers’ community
1717
The inscription in the cartouche: "This prayer of Olonets Posad (suburb) man Mikhayla (Michael) the son of Semenov, and this skillful craftsmanship is made the Year of 1717, on the 23 day of September."
Copper alloy; casting, engraving, silvering, gilding
18,5 х 11,0 х 1,5 cm
Receipt: from the collection of the Museum of the Russian antiquities of Peter I Shchukin, 1905
Showcase 4

This is an earliest signature folding icon of Vygovsky manufacture. It belonged to Olonets Posad (suburb) man Mikhail Semenov.
In Vygo-Leczinska old believer community were founded workshops of the artistic copper casting. The work of "mednitsa" (copper workshop) was watched by the abbots of the monastery, people were highly educated and who had an outstanding artistic taste. Vygov foundry accepted traditions of ancient copper casting of XV-XVII Centuries. Foundrymen managed to also create a new, different from the ancient forms of products, other story compositions, special iconographic types.
Folding icon with the inscription is a real rarity and the earliest example of old believer casting. When open, it represents the whole iconostasis, assembled of 20 icons-stamps and gold-plated surface. When folded, it becomes a portable item, convenient for storage in road conditions. The turnovers of the doors are decorated with silver plating, engraved heraldic images of the mantle and relief in the form of a book with motifs of an old printed ornament and Baroque elements made in casting.

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