St. John the Forerunner
Type:
Icon
Period:
From
the beginning of the
19 century
to
the end of the
19 century
Dimmensions (cm):
67
/ 48
/ 3.5
Location
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Town: Bansko
Museum: Museum complex
Source
Country: Bulgaria
Province: Blagoevgrad
Description
Saint John the Forerunner is portrayed to the waist, with his right arm raised as high as the shoulder (blessing), and in the dropped left hand he is holding his cut-off head and a cross with a roll around it.
Iconographical technique: Tempera
The technique of the execution is a distemper painting with an increased content of oil in the vehicle. The carnations of the saint are painted with the "wet in wet" technique. Immediately after the laying of the basic greenish tone, the iconographer had applied also the modelling ochre tone (the carnations, the sarc on the saint's face and arms), having in this way attained the major transitions from the lighted to the shaded parts. The pleats are painted with black paint.
The vessel, in which the saint is carrying his cut-off head, the nimbi and the inner frame are gilded with gold-leaf.
Base material: Wood
The base is a softwood panel, reinforced by means of two inserted beams. The ground coat is of plaster about 0,8 mm thick. The line-work of the garments is executed with liquid gold over the green basic tone.
State, restoration traces and comments
The icon had been cleansed more than once.
