Triptych Showing the Head of Christ, St. Nikholai, and the Guardian Angel

The exterior of this triptych is decorated with floral and vegetative motifs in filigree enamel raised over a stippled background. Its central panel terminates at the top in a kokoshnik shape. A Russian, three-barred cross serves as the pull to open the side panels. Golgotha is indicated by a cross rising from a hillock, the base of which is in a grey and blue checkerboard pattern adorned with gilt granules.

The icon is painted in oil on wood. On the central panel appears the nerukotvorenny obraz or "Holy Image of Christ Not Made by Human Hand." In the Eastern Church, this image, the first icon, is known as the Holy Mandylion, or the "Image of Edessa," whereas in the Western Church it is identified as "Veronica's Veil," or the Sudarium, after a towel bearing the image of Christ, which was venerated in the Vatican from the 11th century to 1527 when it may have disappeared in the Sack of Rome. The lateral panels show St. Nikholai, the Miracle Worker, and a Guardian Angel. The interior enameled decoration consists of raised blossoms and foliage in partially foil-backed filigree over a stippled ground.

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Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Jean M. Riddell, Washington, D.C. [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 2010, by bequest.