Russian icon. Old Believers Workshop, late 18th century.

.Russian icon. Old Believers Workshop, late 18th century.
“The Virgin of the Burning Bush.”
Tempera on wood.
It has missing paint and wear.
Measurements: 54 x 43 x 5 cm.
The Marian invocation of the Burning Bush refers to the bush that Moses saw burning without being consumed on the slopes of Horeb as an image of Mary who illuminates Christ as divine fire. In this Greek icon, the Virgin appears surrounded by the angelic powers and the four visions of the miracle personified in Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jacob.
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. Greek icons are attributable to some recurring themes, and are characterized by common elements, as in this case, representing the Mother of God. These are dedicated to the widespread veneration in the Byzantine world of the Holy Mother of God (Yperaghia Theotòkos). 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.