TSAFOURIS, Nikolaos
(d. 1501, Crete)

Triptych

1490s
Tempera on panel, 25 x 46 cm
Private collection

The triptych depicts the Virgin and Child in the central panel in the manner of 'Madre della Consolazione' occurring on other icons, too, painted in Crete. This type may have been established by Nikolaos Tzafouris to whom this triptych can be attributed on stylistic ground, as his painting is characterized by the same combination of Byzantine and Western iconographic and stylistic elements. The left wing portrays the apostles Peter and Paul embracing, a scene associated with the Union of Churches that was proclaimed in 1439. On the right panel two anonymous Western deacons, beardless and with short hair and tonsure, are painted in a Gothic manner. Clothed in red sticharia with gold embroidery, the pair must represent Saints Stephen and Lawrence.




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