Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat. no. 323:
The Holy Ancestor Abel
1980, Robert de Caluwé, Myllyjärvi, Finland
NMI 322

Wood: Fiberboard, egg tempera. Panel
made of single board without splines;
back covered with textile.

Inscriptions a t.: Hand-written text in
blue pencil: drawing of cross / AA1 / 61
-1980 / Myllyjärvi

PROVENANCE: Given to Ulf Abel by the
artist 1988; Gift of U.Abel 2001
CONSERVATION: Edge damage in lower
right-hand corner.
In addition to traditional canonical
prototypes, Robert de Caluwé has also
been influenced by a medieval mural
of Abel and the Sacrificial Lamb in
Örridslev Church, East Jutland, Denmark.
1
Born in the Netherlands in 1913, R. de
Caluwé was taught icon-painting in
Rome by Pimen Sofronov2 in the
1940s and has been active in Finland
since the 1950s.3 Myllyjärvi is the
name of the ecumenical centre which
de Caluwé has created in Espoo, near
Helsinki.
1 Letter from de Caluwé dated 14th November
1999, Nationalmuseum archives.
2 Cf. cat. no 321 a-d.
3 Kotkavaara 1988, p 31; Kotkavaara 1999, pp 4–5,
326–327.
[slut]