Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat. no. 190:
The Congregation of Archangel Michael
1760s, St Petersburg
NMI 108

Wood: Juniper (Juniperus sp.), egg
tempera on canvas. Panel made of two
layers of wood with two splines inlaid
on battens; back partly covered with
ground.

Signed: Ignat Alekseyev Vetchinkin
Inscriptions: Inscribed in a cartouche
at the lower border: pisal sey obraz
[K]urskoy / ikonopisets Ignat [Ale]kseyev
/ syn Vetchinkin 17[...] godu / mstsa[...]
(this icon was made by the icon painter
from Kursk Ignatii Vetchinkin, son
of Aleksey, in the year 17... in the
month of...). See Appendix 2.

PROVENANCE: Olof Aschberg;
Gift of O.Aschberg 1933
EXHIBITIONS: Gävle 1970, no 8; Stockholm
1988, no 43
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Kjellin 1933, no 108; Kjellin
1956, p 314; Abel 1978:1, fig. 24; Abel
1979:2; Abel 1989:2, p 15; Bouij 1993, p 77
CONSERVATION: Restored prior to entering
NM: minor retouches all over; NM 1988:
cleaning, regeneration of varnish. Horizontal
cracks through the upper panel; through
the lower panel, a crack about 0.6 cm wide
in the middle, as well as smaller cracks

In the centre a representation of
Christ Emmanuel within an aureole,
sur round ed by five angels, including,
top centre, the Archangel Michael with
sword and shield. Grouped around
this scene are four small circles, the
two above showing Gideon’s encounter
with the angel (Judges VI:11–22) and
Jacob wrestling with the angel (Genesis
XXXII), the lower two each with four
saints. The three larger cartouches at
the top show, from left to right: The
Annunciation to the Mother of God
(Luke 1:26–38), God blessing, the An -
nunciation of Anna (Protevan ge lium
of St James, IV:I). The next row of
cartouches depicts the appearance
of an gels to the High Priest Zacharias,
the father of John the Baptist (Luke
1:11–20) and to Joshua (Joshua V:13–15)
respectively. The two scenes in the following
row depict Peter’s release from
prison with the aid of an angel (Acts
XII:6–10) and St Michael at the miracle
of Colossae. The middle cartouche at
the bottom shows the Archangel Raph -
ael and Tobias with the fish (Tobit
VI:1–6). The remaining two represent
John the Baptist; on the left his decollation
with his head delivered to the
daughter of Herodias (Matthew
XIV:10–11) and on the right his severed
head is discovered by two monks. Each
larger scene is surrounded by cartouch -
es of acanthus leaves in late Baroque
style. The border has Rococo-type foliage
ornamentation, unusually com -
bined with a meander pattern.
The traditional iconography shows
traces of some western influence, e.g.
the flower held by the archangel in the
Annunciation scene. The colouring,
dominated by blue, red, black and
gold, and the style seem to indicate
the middle of the 18th century. In
St Nicholas’ Cathedral in St Petersburg,
built in 1753–62, there are several comparable
icons, some of which are dated
from the 1760s. The paint layer of the
inscription in the Museum’s icon is
slightly damaged, but it seems reason -
ably safe to assume that the third oblit -
erated digit of the dating is a 6. The
artist seems to be unknown. Feast day 8 November.
[slut]