19th C. Russian Icon of Archangel Michael, Voevoda of the Heavenly Host

Eastern Europe, Russia. A rider of flame charges across a darkened panel, wings unfurled and crown set upon his brow: the Archangel Michael in his apocalyptic guise as commander of the heavenly host. Rendered in egg tempera on a wood panel, the winged warrior grips a Book of Gospels in one hand while his lance drives downward through the writhing form below, his mount, a fiery vermilion steed, rearing over the vanquished. At upper left, the Trinity (or an assembly of saints) hovers within scrolling clouds, while a solar disc watches from the right. The composition follows a distinctly Russian iconographic type, "Archangel Michael, Voevoda," a fearsome apocalyptic vision drawn from the Book of Revelation. The subdued olive ground and bold orange-red palette lend the image a smoldering, otherworldly urgency. The "Archangel Michael, Voevoda of the Heavenly Host" (Arkhistratig Mikhail) is among the most dramatic subjects in Russian iconography. Michael appears not as a serene intercessor but as an eschatological warrior: he blows the trumpet of the Last Judgment, brandishes the Gospels, and tramples the forces of chaos beneath a flame-colored horse whose color evokes the apocalyptic riders of Revelation. In his hand he often bears a censer or a rainbow, and the sun and moon frame the heavens above. Icons of this type circulated widely in the 19th century, particularly among Old Believer communities, whose workshops favored the archaic drawing, sober grounds, and vivid vermilion that characterize this panel. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 203882

Estimate:£224.25

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