The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ
Type:
Icon
Period:
1907 year
Dimmensions (cm):
50
/ 39
/ 2.5
Location
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Luki
Church: The Virgin
Source
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Village: Luki
Church: The Virgin
Description
A traditional iconographic cliche, with a composition of many figures in two levels. Down below, painted in dynamic attitudes, are the three disciples - St. James, St. John and St. Peter, against the background of a mountainous landscape, outlining the silhouette of the Tabor mountain where the event had taken place. Painted in full length up above, in the center, standing on a cloud on the mountain's summit, is Christ. There is a radiance around his head. Painted on Christ's left- and right-hand sides, standing on clouds, are respectively the Old-Testament prophets Moses and Elijah.
Iconographical technique: Tempera
A distemper painting with an additional quantity of drying-up oil in the vehicle. The layer of the painting is a thin one, at some places a velatura, of a granular structure, owing to the poor quality of the pigments. The modelling of the forms and the representation of the figures are rough and unskillful, betraying the hand of a self-taught painter. The varnish cover is laid thickly and evenly.
The gilding is on bole with gold-leaf. Used in the ornamental frame, enclosing the painting, had been liquid bronze.
Base material: Wood
The icon's base is a one-piece softwood panel, with two inserted reinforcing beams. The ground coat is of plaster, laid relatively thickly and not well finished.
State, restoration traces and comments
There are no traces of any previous restorative intervention.Written in the composition's lower part is a donor's inscription.
