Description
This small icon was made for private devotion and could be worn around the neck. The central panel depicts the Three Angels Visiting Abraham (Genesis 18:1-8), flanked by panels of the Deposition of Christ (left) and the Holy Women at the Tomb (right). The three men who came to the house of Abraham were seen as a parallel to the New Testament Trinity of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. In the Orthodox Church, Pentecots is also the feast day of the Holy Trinity, so the central image of this triptych is surrounded by the text of the liturgical hymn (troparion) sung on that day.
Provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1930, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Transcription] Возношение на кре(ст). + Бл(а)г(о)с(ло)в(е)нъ еси, Х(рист)е {бавшъ}, иже премоудраѧ ловца iавлеи, пославъ имъ Д(у)х с(вя)тъ, тѣм и оуловлеи вселенноую. Ч(е)л(о)в(е)колюбче. [+ Благословен еси, Христе Боже наш, иже премудры ловцы явлей, ниспослав им Духа святаго и теми уловлей вселенную. Человеколюбче, (слава Тебе!).] Мироносици на гробе; [Translation] The Raising on the Cross. + Blessed art Thou, Christ our God, Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. O Lover of mankind, [glory to Thee]! (troparion for the feast of Pentecost). The Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb.
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1930
