Russian school, 18th-19th centuries. "Elijah... Lot 35

Russian school, 18th-19th centuries. "Elijah in the Wilderness". Tempera on panel. Measurements: 31 x 26.5 cm. This work refers to another thematic icon called "Elijah in the Desert", painted by Fyodor Evtyjeev Zubov between 1659 and 1662, for the church of the saint in Yaroslavl (Russia). It is a classic image par excellence of Russian iconography, now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Yaroslavl. The anonymous master of our piece depicts Elijah in the centre of the icon, according to the canon: seated on a stone, leaning on a staff. The saint, who turns his face towards the raven bringing him a loaf of bread, is surrounded by nature. Instead of hagiographic cells, known in Russian as "kleimó" and typical of traditional Orthodox iconography, our master opted for the less common but equally common miniatures, which form a circular composition. The scenes should be read from the upper left corner downwards, ending in the upper right corner. It is true that this icon has some deterioration, but even so all the scenes can be clearly seen, because the inscriptions are preserved, a characteristic feature of orthodox iconography. The first miniature shows the Pantocrator. It is followed by a scene with Elijah, probably when Elijah spoke with God. The third scene describes the descent of the angel in Elijah's dream. It is followed by a scene depicting one of his miracles, when he touched the waters of the Jordan River with his clothes, and the waters parted, just as they did for Moses. In the penultimate miniature we see the prophet Elisha, who frequently accompanies Elijah. . Finally, the composition culminates with Elijah's ascension to heaven, even though he is mortal, thus symbolising his great virtue. In addition to depicting Elijah's life with iconographic accuracy, the anonymous author improvises freely, enriching the icon with landscapes and seascapes. Elijah was one of the most revered Old Testament saints in Old Rus, even before the Christianisation of Rus in 988. Today he is considered the protector of the air force. He is one of the few prophets equally esteemed in Islam, Judaism and Christianity. There is very little information about his origin and his name, which probably comes from Hebrew and means "my God is Yahweh (the one God)", is not known exactly. During his lifetime, Elijah openly criticised the pagan king of Israel, Ahab, and his wife Jezebel. Because of their lack of faith in Christianity, God punished Israel with a drought, which lasted three years. During this period, Elijah lived in the desert, next to a small river, or a natural water source, and was fed with the help of the ravens that brought him food. The central scene of our icon represents precisely this episode, the colours of ochre, red, and yellowish tones, help to convey the sensation of heat and drought, in an uninhabited desert. When the people of Israel finally had enough, Elijah offered to test them by building two altars, one pagan and one Christian. The one on which the fire would fall that night would be the religion to follow. God lit the Christian altar, putting an end to paganism in Israel. As a gift for this rigorous faith and virtue, Elijah was ascended to heaven.