Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir

This piece takes up the canons of the Eleusa Vladimirskaya icon, the Byzantine prototype that, in the 12th century, became the palladium of medieval Russia. The electroforming technique produces a highly precise bas-relief, whose folds and vegetal arabesques evoke the ornamental vocabulary of the Paleolog period. The silver-plated metalwork covers the entire composition, leaving only the faces, hands and feet visible, chromatically highlighted by a warm-toned oil painting.

In the upper register, a radiant halo sculpted entirely in metal – with long, radially rhythmic rays – suggests the theophany of uncreated light and amplifies the affective tension specific to the Eleusa type, in which the Child brings his cheek close to that of the Mother. The arched profile of the faces and the almond-shaped eyes refer to the manner of the Constantinopolitan workshops of the Komnenian era, adapted here to a language of portable miniature.

The gradually profiled frame, crafted from toned oak, adds visual depth and gives stability to the object. The contrast between the dark patina of the wood and the silver highlights the delicacy of the chiseled details and the subtlety of the gradations of the painting.

Through the synthesis of noble materials – silver and hardwood – the icon proposes a dialogue between tradition and technology: a cult object intended for private devotional space, but also a collector's item capable of bringing the artistic refinement of the Vladimir school into a contemporary context.