Russian icon from the 18th century.

Russian icon from the 18th century.
"Saint Mark.
Painting on wood.
It has some old retouches and slight faults.
Attached a handwritten label on the back.
Measurements: 71 x 35 x 3,1 cm.
Saint Mark is depicted full-length in this 18th-century icon, covered with a red cloak dipped in the bright pigment characteristic of Orthodox icon art. He holds the book of the Gospels closed, allowing the painter to reproduce the sumptuous jewellery of the leather covers. In this case, the saint is not accompanied by the angel, his main attribute, but we can identify him by the legend written in Cyrillic that accompanies him. The angel that usually accompanies the canonical representations of Saint Mark refers to a dream that the Evangelist had: while in the Rialtine Islands, as a result of a shipwreck, he dreamt of an angel who promised him that he would sleep in that land while awaiting the last day. Stylistically, the icon follows the pictorial precepts of the orthodox tradition: linear and stylised drawing, delicate palette, gilding and carmine in rich chromatic contrast.