A Martyr and a Bishop Saint, probably Byzantine, 14th century

standing in a frontal pose on a green ground are the martyr with curly hair, dressed in a bright red tunic and a light blue mantle, and the bishop saint, probably St Nicholas

Part of the panel missing at the right. Some wear and retouching. A spot of retouching to the right hand side of the left saint's face.
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The martyr and bishop saint are both gazing away, as if lost in thought.  The highly expressive painting of the faces, the simple and bold drawing of the clothes with their bright colours, together with the slightly recessed, relatively thin panel, point in the direction of Byzantine icon painting from the 13th and 14th centuries.  Although the figures of the present icon are more elongated, it is interesting to compare the icon with the Byzantine Two Saints icon, dated 13th century, now in the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, USA.  Its provincial style of painting might indicate a provenance from Egypt, where several icon workshops flourished.

The dating of the wood of the panel to the 14th century is confirmed by technical analyses from RUG (University of Groningen, The Netherlands), Ref. CIO/460-2008/HD.