Dormition, Ukraine, late 15th or early 16th century

Emil Filla (1882-1953),
National Gallery of Prague,
restituted to the heirs of Emil Filla in 1992

(Patriarch) D. Yarema, Icon Painting, Western Ukraine, 12th - 15th Centuries, Lvov, 2005, p. 178, cat. no. 208.
S. Hordynsky, Ukrainian Icons, 12th-18th Centuries, Munich, 1981, p. 116, cat. no. 95.

A vertical repaired crack running through the centre of the panel from top to bottom. Two smaller vertical cracks running from the bottom left upwards, approximately 40cm and 30cm long. Some retouching throughout the painting. A larger horizontal patch of retouching, approximately 2cm wide, in the lower right part of the panel running through the centre of the angel and the lower part of St Paul's mantle. The dark blue mandorla with the angels also with some larger parts of retouching. The halos of the saints, the mantle of Christ and the decoration on the death bed of the Virgin partly re-gilded. Overall in very good condition.
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The Dormition of the Mother of God was a particularly well-loved feast in Russia and Ukraine, with the image of that scene being regarded as a palladia, or protective icon, from as early as the 10th century and the principal church of Russia in Moscow's Kremlin being dedicated to the same feast. However in contrast to other important scenes the Dormition did not acquire political overtones, remaining throughout the ultimate icon for those hoping to be granted along with the Mother of God, eternal peace in the arms of their Saviour.

The highly individual style of painting indicates a Ukrainian, or more precisely Carpathian, origin although the overall format is characteristic of a group of icons produced in Novgorod in the 15th and 16th centuries. For example, the general composition and counterpose of Christ, whereby he turns his body to the right in carrying Mary’s soul, in the form of a child, to heaven but also cranes his neck left in a final glance at the mortal remains of his mother, draw on the Novgorod style of icon painting. No doubt conceived as part of a larger iconostasis, the surrounding figures continue to retain a great strength of expressive emotion.

An integral figure to the Czech avant-garde, Emil Filla's art was strongly influenced by that of the past. Filla's collection, which was comparable to that of Pablo Picasso and André Breton in its focus on Primitive art and sculpture, provides us with insight into his aesthetic. With the assistance of such artefacts, these artists were able to drastically and influentially re-conceptualise their approach to painting and the arts. When one considers the dramatic emotional rendering of the facial features in the present icon, Filla's fascination with Expressionism, which differentiated him from other artists of the period, is more readily comprehensible.