Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat.no. NMI 281:

3 Saint George and Saint Demetrius

15th CENTURY, SERBIA (?), BALKAN

Wood: Linden (Tilia sp.), egg tempera on canvas.
Panel made of single board without splines; back planed and varnished.
58 x 42 x 2
MI 281

PROVENANCE: Vilhelm Assarsson (”Pskov, end of 14th century”);
Åke Wiberg; Gift of Å.Wiberg 1960

EXHIBITIONS: Berlin 1966, no 115

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Assarssons samling (2:2);
NM annual report 1960, p 18; Abel 1977, p 13

CONSERVATION: Restored prior to entering NM: retouches on gures,
background and borders with articial craquelure; inscriptions reconstructed;
gold background removed; NM 1961: paint and ground consolidated,
blisters consolidated, panel planed and joint puttied, retouches and varnishing
(B. Titov); 1966: blisters con solidated. Crack through panel to left of centre;
signs of blistering; darkened varnish; panel badly warped.


The two gures are portrayed as soldier-saints, clad in armour and bearing swords.
St George lifts his sword with one hand, while St Demetrius lifts the cross of his martyrdom.
Stylistically this picture is most akin to the paint ing of the Balkans. It has also been judged
to be the work of a Greek or Balkan artist active in Russia. At the Berlin exhibition,
the icon was regard ed as a Byzantine work of the 14th century.