Elijah the Prophet in the desert, with scenes from his life and the Deesis
Iconography: Elijah in the Wilderness, Hagiographic cycle of Elijah the Prophet
Date: XIII century. The second half - the end of the 13th c.
Iconographic school/art center: Pskov icon-painting school
Origin: From the Church of the Prophet Elijah in the village of Vybuty near Pskov.
Material: Wood, tempera
Dimensions: height 141 cm, width 111 cm
The figure of the Prophet Elijah sitting against a rocky landscape is depicted in the central part of the icon. He seems to be listening to something with his left hand resting on the ankle, and his right hand raised to the ear. In the upper margin is a seven-figured half-length Deesis terminating in the Apostles Peter and Paul.
Side and bottom borders show fourteen scenes from the prophet’s life.
Border scenes
1. The Angel shows a child swaddled in fire to the sleeping Sabah predicting him the miraculous birth of his son
2. Sabah tells about his vision to the high priests.
3. Elijah forbids rain
4. Elijah meets the widow at Zarephath
5. Elijah multiplies corn in the widow’s house
6. Elijah raises of the dead the widow’s son
7. Obadiah, Ahab’s messenger, meets Elijah
8. Elijah curses king Ahab
9. The sacrifice on Mount Carmel
10. The sacrifice on Mount Carmel
11. Elijah stabs the prophets of Baal near the Kishon brooks
12. The Prophet Elisha follows Elijah
13. Elijah and Elisha cross Jordan on foot
14. The fiery ascent of the prophet Elijah
Inv. № 14907. © The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Bibliography:
Государственная Третьяковская Галерея. Каталог собрания. Древнерусское искусство X — начала XV века. Том I. № 26.
General view