Two arched wings from a triptych, George Klontzas, Crete, late 16th century

Auction Closed

November 26, 05:37 PM GMT

Estimate

40,000 - 60,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

the first painted with the Crucifixion, the crowded, multi-figured scene centred by the Crucifixion itself set against the City of Jerusalem, with Christ flanked by the Good and Bad Thieves; below, Christ carries the Cross on the way to Golgotha, while bottom left Mary Magdalene and Saint John comfort His Mother, and bottom right Roman soldiers gamble for His clothes; the second painted with the Decollation of Saint John the Baptist, painted in three registers to depict the Court of Herod Antipas, with musicians playing from a gallery under a magnificent coffered ceiling, Herod Antipas and his guests dining with male guests, while his wife Herodias appears at a window to witness the events below, the beheading and the presentation of Saint John’s head on a platter, each later set in a velvet frame, unsigned

(2)

each wing 20 by 16.4cm; 8 by 6 1/2 in.

Please note, these two panels have been removed from their velvet-covered stands, and could be reinserted if required.

The Loverdos Collection of Icons

George Klontzas (1535-1608), born in Heraklion, was a virtuoso painter whose work is at the heart of the “Cretan Renaissance” which fused traditional Byzantine icon painting with the Italian style favoured by the Venetian rulers of Crete. He came from a family of painters, is known to have spent time in Venice, and had a large workshop in Heraklion. Klontzas’ highly individual and recognisable style together with the fact that some of his icons are signed mean that scholars have been able so far to identify around 40 works that can safely be attributed to him. That Klontzas was very highly regarded is ascertained by the fact that major paintings of his are found both in the monastery of Saint Catherine on Sinai (a large panel of In Thee Rejoiceth – see Konstantinos Malafis et al, Sinai: Treasures of the Monastery of Saint Catherine, Athens, 1990, plate 98) and in the monastery of Saint John the Theologian on Patmos (a Triptych - see Athanasios D. Kominis et al, Patmos: Treasures of the Monastery, Athens, 1988, plate 28).

Klontzas’s busy, crowded style was particularly suited for triptychs, and it is for these that he is best known. The often elaborately carved and gilded Baroque frames complimented his manner of painting, and they are an impressive sight when opened and on display. Klontzas covered every square centimetre of his icons with intricately painted narrative detail, finely rendered in complimentary colours and then further enriched with gilding. He was master of taking advantage of the shape of his panels; see, for example, in the offered lot how naturally the arch of the panel depicting the Decollation becomes a domed ceiling. Another element derived from 16^th century Venetian painting is his great love of detail; see, for example in the offered panels, the little Devil who has settled on the Bad Thief’s head; or the backgammon board and dice in the lower right corner; or in the Decollation, the still life of bread and wine on Herod Antipas’ table, and the dog gazing up at Herodias – and its shadow on the wall.

Another advantage of the triptych is that when it is closed, most of the painted surfaces are protected from damage, which means that many triptychs have come down to us in a much better state of preservation than other panel icons of the same date. The condition of the panels bring to the fore the more traditional Byzantine elements of Klontzas’ work, the use of white highlights which illuminate the figures in the composition and their drapery.

Other than the Patmos triptych already mentioned, there are triptychs by Klontzas in the Hellenic Institute in Venice, wings of a Triptych in the Vatican Museum, other wings in Ravenna and Geneva, and two triptychs published in Y. Petsopoulos, East Christian Art, Axia, London, 1987 (plates 74 and 75). Another Klontzas triptych was published by John Stuart in Ikons, London, 1975, plate 60, which like one of the offered wings here, has the Crucifixion as its central image; although inevitably (for an icon painter) Klontzas repeated many of his subjects, he was too much of an artist to repeat them exactly, and each one differing in the details of the composition.

We are grateful to Ivan Samarine for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.