Madre della Consolazione

The iconography of the Madre della Consolazione type is of Western origin.[1] It has clearly been influenced by Italian prototypes from the 14th century. The icon’s Italian title refers to the suffering of Christ, as anticipated by his mother. The type was probably introduced to the Orthodox-Christian world by the famous icon painter Nikolaos Tzafouris in the second half of the 15th century; his oeuvre is typified by combined Byzantine and Italian iconographical types. Our icon is painted in a highly refined style and can be dated in the late 15th century.

Very similar floral punched motifs can be found in the halos of the signed Tzafouris Pietà icon in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and in the halos of the signed Tzafouris Madre della Consolazione icon in a Dutch private collection (currently on loan to the Ikonen-Museum Recklinghausen, Germany). The punching, the specific iconography and the refined style of the painting, all point towards Nikolaos Tzafouris or a painter from his immediate circle.

The icon was in the collection of Morsink Icon Gallery, Amsterdam till 2016 and then was purchased by a private collector from the Netherlands.