Icon of the Mother of God of the Passion, Balkan School, 19th century

Tempera painting

Purchased, 1885

This icon is an example of a V&A painting with a museum number indicating that it was acquired by the museum as a ‘School Example’, i.e. S.Ex.1-1885. In 1885 when this painting was acquired, the V&A, then the South Kensington Museum, was part of the Department of Art and Science, and included the so-called “National Art Training Schools of South Kensington”.

Taken from MacDonald, Stuart. The History & Philosophy of Art Education. Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, 2004. Appendix concerning ‘Early Government Schools of Art in Great Britain’, p. 383. ‘The Normal, Central or Head School of Design’, was established at Somerset House (London) in 1837. This became ‘The Central Training School’ at Marlborough House (1852), then at South Kensington (1857), renamed ‘The National Art Training Schools’ (1863), reconstituted as ‘The Royal College of Art’ (1896) which moved into new buildings at Kensington Gore in 1962.

The School of Design was founded in the 1830s to improve British Industrial design. From its formation in the 1850s, the South Kensington Museum, as a part of the governmental ‘Department of Science and Art’, made many acquisitions to support the school which from 1857 was based at South Kensington, and from 1863 was called the ‘National Art Training Schools’. Hansard [HC Deb 07 June 1883 vol 279 cc1910-1] records a question addressed to the Vice President of the Committee of the Council for Education in June 1883, as to ‘whether purchases of pictures for the South Kensington Museum have been recently made; and, if so, whether it is intended to establish at that institution a second national collection of pictures, in addition to that of the National Gallery; and, if such be the case, by whose recommendation, and on whose judgement, the purchases of pictures for South Kensington have been made?’. In response it was noted that many paintings were acquired ‘...for use as examples for students in the Art Training Schools, and for circulation among the Schools of Art in the country. The purchases have been made on the recommendation of the Director for Art – at one time Mr. Redgrave – then Mr Poynter – now Mr. Armstrong’. [Richard Redgrave (1804-1888); Edward Poynter (1836-19190; Thomas Armstrong (1832-1911). All were painters and works by them are in the V&A.]

Historical significance: This icon, which represents The Virgin of the Passion, is only one type of several variants which represent the Virgin and Child together. This name is derived from the inclusion of angels on either side of the Theotokos (or God Bearing One in Greek), who hold the cross and column, which represent the hetaimasia or instruments of the Passion of Christ. The objects foreshadow the agony and death of Christ and are intended to remind a viewer of the flagellation and crucifixion even though the scene is ultimately an intimate and tender one.

Icons of the Virgin and Child are mostly derived from the 'Hodegetria' type, which follow an iconographic formula set out by a famous icon in Constantinople, the Virgin Hodegetria, which was kept in the Monastery of the 'Panaghia Hodegetria', and which was believed to have been painted by St. Luke himself. This icon of the Virgin of the Passion follows this formula in which the Virgin holds Christ with one arm and gestures towards him with the other.

The dating of this icon is difficult because of its poor state of preservation, but also because of style. The garments of the figures most closely parallel examples from Crete and Cyprus in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, however, the faces of the figures and the awkward handling of the angels are not in keeping with this early date. Additionally, the depiction of the column of the flagellation, rather the lance and sponge indicate the kind of western influence one finds in Balkan paintings of the early nineteenth century. When this icon was originally acquired by the museum it was thought to be an example of Byzantine work, possibly of the fifteenth century, but it seems more likely to be a nineteenth century Balkan copy of a Cretan icon of the fifteenth century.

Formerly described as "Byzantine School, 15th century?". Now Balkan School

S.EX.1-1885