St. John the Baptist
Type:
Icon
Period:
From
the beginning of the
19 century
to
the end of the
19 century
Dimiter T. Molerov, born in 1780 in Bansko, son of Toma Vishanov the Moler. One of the best-known painters, a representative of the Bansko school of art, a disciple of his father, influenced by the art of Athos. Author of the murals of the naos in the St Archangels' paraclete in the Rila monastery, the murals in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in the Pchelino dependance. In 1840 and 1841 together with his son Simeon Molerov he paints the murals and the sponsors' portraits in St. Nicholas' and St. John of Rila's paracletes in the principal church in the Rila monastery. Among D. Molerov's major achievements in iconography are the following icons: St. Nicholas (1816) from St. Archangel Michael's church in the village of Leshko, Christ All-triumphant with Angels and Cherubim (1833), The Nativity and a Crucifixion from St Elijah the Prophet's church in the village of Usenovo. He has also worked in Belgrade on an invitation by Prince Milosh Obrenovich of Serbia. He died in 1870 in Bansko.
Dimmensions (cm):
46
/ 35
/ 2.5
Location
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Ognyanovo
Church: The Assumption of the Virgin
Source
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Ognyanovo
Church: The Assumption of the Virgin
Description
A traditional portrayal of Saint John the Baptist, who is blessing with his right hand and is holding in his left one a long and thin cross and a platter with his cut-off head. There are two unfolded rolls with a text on them: the one of them is wound around the cross, and the other one is in the saint's hand.
Iconographical technique: Combined
The gilding of the aureoles is with gold-leaf, and the bowl with the saint's cut-off head is silver-plated, as is also the frame, enclosing the icon.
Base material: Wood
The icon's base is a one-piece softwood panel, machine-made, with two inserted beams. The edges of the beams and the vertical edges of the icon's back are slightly filed off. The ground coat is of plaster, laid thinly.
State, restoration traces and comments
The ground coat is badly damaged in the icon's lower part and along the frame. Damaged in the same places is also the painting layer. The varnish cover has grown very dark, with a network of deep crackings, especially on the saint's garments. There are overpaintings with green pigment on the background on both sides of the saint in the icon's lower part.
