Russian Icons

Savior

Notes:
Savior Moscow This wonderfully focused head of Christ, with its severe color harmony echoed in the gray and terra-cotta cross-like nimbus (halo), is a riveting creation from the Moscow School of the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. Ultimately it relates to earlier depictions of Christ as pantokrator (ruler) such as that in the Deesis mosaic of the south Gallery, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul. Influenced perhaps by contact with Andrei Rublev (see ImageBase: Icons 28-31), the icon also reveals the increasing assurance of Moscow artists during the fourteenth century as they developed a style independent of that of Vladimir-Suzdal, a region surrounding Kiev, whose style was characterized by rich detail and self-controlled expressions on the faces of subjects.