The Holy Shroud of the Lord Icon

This three-dimensional composition strikes a remarkable balance between workshop technique and the sacredness of form. Executed through electroforming — a high-precision metal deposition process used in decorative arts and the manufacture of prestigious liturgical objects — the piece transposes the iconic face of the Savior into a register of visual force rarely encountered in contemporary Byzantine-inspired works.

The halo, treated with gold and encrusted with dozens of Bohemian crystals, suggests a miniaturized mandorla -type aura, relating the piece to the enkolpion portraits of the Palaeologan period. The volumetry of the face and the treatment of expression are closer to the Western sculptural school than to the strict Byzantine tradition, which gives the work a double belonging: spiritual and aesthetic.

The corners of the frame are decorated with floral elements in relief, alternating patinated gold with crystal mounts. The dark greige velvet background and dark oak frame suggest a curatorial presentation, ready for museum display or a high-end private collection.

It is a piece that, in an international auction context, would stand in the vicinity of Russian icons from the imperial workshop, although the approach is clearly contemporary. From a technical point of view, it is close to objects made by electroplating in the style of K. Fabergé, adapted here for a monumental Orthodox rhetoric.