Blog'Art

Arts, Briefly, The NY Times

Compiled by LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
Published: March 1, 2007

Greek restorers have discovered a priceless 17th-century painting beneath the silver sheet covering a Byzantine icon of St. John the Baptist kept for years in a provincial church, Reuters reported. Concealed for centuries beneath the ornate cover, the icon, with miniature scenes from St. John’s life, is dated 1646 and signed by Emmanuel Tzanes, a theologian, priest and leading artist of his time, whose works are in museums around the world. “This is very important,” Georgios A. Voulgarakis, the Greek culture minister, said yesterday. “This icon is recorded for the first time under his name.” Ministry officials said the painting must have been covered by the silver sheet around 1760, leaving only the faces visible to the faithful who kissed and prayed to it ever since, unaware of its value. St. John is shown against a gold background, while 12 scenes from his life, from conception to beheading and burial, line the sides and bottom of the icon. Mr. Voulgarakis said that after restoration, the icon would be returned to the church, in Kranidi, a town in the Peloponnese, where it would receive special security.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/arts/01arts.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin