Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat. no. 24:
The Saint Spiridonshrine and Saint Nicholas
18th century, Ionian Islands, Greece
NMI 225

Wood: Spruce (Picea sp.), egg tempera.
Panel made of single board without
splines.

PROVENANCE: Olof Aschberg;
Gift of O.Aschberg 1933
CONSERVATION: Restored prior to entering
NM: insertions and retouches all over the
surface; front and back wax-treated. Losses
of paint layer and ground along borders;
panel worm-eaten, especially in corners;
varnish yellowed and grimy
On the left is the reliquary of St Spiridon
as it has been displayed on the
island of Corfu ever since the 17th century,
the mummified saint in clerical
vestments within a glass coffin in a
richly decorated wooden shrine. The
lower half of the front of the shrine
contains an obliquely positioned icon
of the saint, of which only the rear is
visible here. Corfu and the Ionian
islands are a centre of the cult of St Spiridon.
The motif is not uncommon
there.1On the right St Nicholas is
portrayed frontally in a standing position,
wearing episcopal robes, pronouncing
a blessing and carrying a
book. The upper edge inscribed in
Greek: Agios Spiridon Agios Nikolaos.
1 Chatzidakis 1962, pp 150–151, 193–194; Lazocic’
1985, nos 16 och 18.
[slut]