LOT 232
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Lot 232
A RUSSIAN OLD BELIEVERS ICON OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY, GAVRIIL EFIMOVICH FROLOV, CIRCA 1915. Executed in the traditional “Old Style”, here Christ is depicted seated upon a throne within a mandorla of red and blue, filled with Seraphim and Cherubim. At His feet are winged wheels with eyes representing the rank of angels called “Thrones”. Christ delivers a blessing with his right hand and holds an open book of Gospels in his left hand inscribed with the words of Matthew 11:28. At the corners, the terminating ends of the four pointed star, upon which the entire image is executed, are displayed the symbols of the Four Evangelists each identified by corresponding inscriptions. The upper border exhibits a slightly abbreviated Old Church Salvonic inscription identifying the subject as, GOSPOD VSEDERZHITEL – The Lord Almighty. Verso branded with the mark Frolov (see illustration). 21 inches x 18 inches (53.5cm x 46cm).
Estimate:
$1,000 - 1,500
€ 740 - 1,100
Gavriil Efimovich Frolov (1854-1930) was born into a family of Old Believer icon painters in the village of Mytkovka in Chernigov Province. He studied icon painting under the tutelage of his father. In 1875, he helped decorate the Old Believers Church of the Transfiguration in Moscow. Later he moved to the village of Raya on Lake Peipus in present day Estonia. There he founded an icon workshop where he instructed numerous iconographers in the traditional Old Style of the type favored by the Old Believers. Frolov was an Old Believer of the Fedoseyan concord; therefore his mode of life was severe and ascetical. His devotion to his faith inspired him to channel all his earnings to various church related projects and schooling. He was not only a master iconographer but also well versed in traditional chant and the Old Church Slavonic language, both of which he taught. One of Frolov’s many noted students was iconographer Pimen Sofronov (1893-1973).
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