Icon of St John the Baptist or St John the Forerunner, with emblems of his martyrdom, Greek School, 19th century

The panel was treated for woodworm in the 1980s. The bottom right corner is eaten/broken away completely, and there remain many small holes, but the overall condition is now stable.

Purchased, 1927
This icon was purchased from Miss Edith Tucker of Kensington in 1927 for £10. Miss Tucker reported that she had purchased it two years previously in Piraeus, Greece "from an old woman who was a refugee from Smyrna" [Registered Papers 27/351]. Smyrna, now Izmir, had been occupied in September 1922 by Turkish troops, and its capture effectively ended the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-1922. In 1927 the icon was catalogued as being possibly seventeenth century, but is probably nineteenth century.

Historical significance: This icon depicts Saint John the Forerunner, or Saint John the Baptist in the Western Church, and contains an inscription in red letters across the top of the panel which identify him. It is clearly the product of a provincial artist, and Anatolia would be a likely place of manufacture due to its provenance. The usual iconographic attributes are represented here, including the severed head of Saint John, the scroll and cross (here not shown as the usual longer staff) and the hair shirt, as well as the axe which leans against a tree. The winged Saint John is a reference to scripture (the gospel of Saint Mark) in which John is referred to as a messenger or angelos in Greek. The winged Saint John is also a particularly popular form of iconography in Asia Minor. The Feast day for John the Forerunner is 7 January.

Greek School (Asia Minor)

W.3-1927