Icon of Saints Cosmas and Damianos, Greek School, 19th century

Religious icon painting

Given by Major R. G. Gayer Anderson

Given by Major R. G. Gayer Anderson, 1942
This icon is one of six panels donated to the V&A by Major R G Gayer Anderson in 1942 (W.11-1942, W.12-1942, W.13-1942, W.14-1942, W.15-1942, W.16-1942). Major Gayer-Anderson was a keen Orientalist who had lived in Cairo for many years until ill health forced him back to his house in Suffolk in 1942, the same year as this donation. His vast collection of antiquities and furnishings was divided primarily between the Major Gayer-Anderson Museum in Cairo (composed of his seventeenth-century house and all of its furnishings), and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, which became the beneficiary of his collection of Egyptian antiquities.

Historical significance: Saints Cosmas and Damianos are venerated in the Orthodox Church as two of the Anargyroi, or holy healing saints. They are also usually depicted together as a pair. In this icon, the saints stand beside one another holding medical texts and instruments, although medicine boxes are also widely seen in their iconography. The saints are named by an inscription in red which runs between the two figures, but this is certainly a later addition to the icon which is in very poor condition. The surface has been damaged and repaired numerous times and there is evidence of woodworm. The surface has been stabilised with glue to prevent further losses. There are stamped marks surrounding the nimbi or haloes of the figures which suggest a much earlier date, but the figures have been so overpainted that it is difficult to ascertain a date of production earlier than the nineteenth century. The garments worn by the saints are strange and reflect a poor knowledge of traditional Byzantine dress, and appear to be the result of renovation. The attempt at creating shadow and a sense of perspective in the image is not in keeping with the traditional iconography of these two saints. This icon may have been used for private devotion, but icons of similar size and arrangement are used in churches as well, to be displayed on the feast day of the saint portrayed. The Orthodox feast day for Cosmas and Damianos is 1 July.

W.16-1942