Antique religious icon with an embossed metal oklad and hand painted faces, sourced in Sardinia. The metal cover is richly worked with floral and symbolic detailing, all done by hand and showing real age. The painted faces of the Madonna and Child are visible through the openings, giving the piece depth and that layered, devotional look associated with older icons.
The metal has oxidised and darkened over time, and the wooden panel beneath shows age movement, which is exactly what you want to see on a piece of this period. Icons with this level of hand tooling, intact panels and original painted insert are becoming harder to find, especially outside their countries of origin.
Height 34 cm
Width 27 cm
