Greek school of the late 18th century.

Greek school of the late 18th century.
Tempera on wood.
Measurements: 40 x 57 x 3.5 cm. (open); 40 x 30 x 3.5 (closed).
We are looking at a Greek school triptych endowed with an unusual narrative richness. Being an icon of Orthodox tradition, it clearly distances itself from hieraticism and the preceding descriptive containment by composing a dynamic scene alluding to the Baptism of Christ and, by extension, the sacred ritual of ablution. Thus, in the central table a multitude of characters from different social strata participate in a community bath. The baptismal font takes the form of a swimming pool or public pool, located in a lush garden. Color and line are combined in each figure, energizing them in gestures and attitudes. The Fathers of the Church, in addition to Saint George and Saint James the Apostle, have been represented on the side panels.
Icons are imbued with deep symbolism. The art of icons emerged as part of the artistic expressions of Byzantine culture, developed in the environment of the eastern Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and up to the date of the disappearance of the Empire, 1453. The production of icons beyond the 15th century is known as “post-Byzantine”, a context in which distinctive features involved in the social and cultural histories of the peoples who professed Orthodox Christianity developed. Crete, mainland Greece and the Ionian islands were some of the new artistic centers that emerged after the fall of Constantinople, preserving the Byzantine tradition and sometimes also renewing it.