A FINE & SCARCE SIGNED & DATED RUSSIAN ICON, THE PRAYER OF THE CUP, PASHKOV, MOSCOW 1904. This icon

A FINE & SCARCE SIGNED & DATED RUSSIAN ICON, THE PRAYER OF THE CUP, PASHKOV, MOSCOW 1904. This icon illustrates the story of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, known in the west as the Agony in the Garden. As recorded in all four Gospels, immediately after the Last Supper, Jesus took a walk to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane with the Apostles Peter, James and John. Here he is shown in prayer, while the Apostles 'a stones throw away' sleep as they cannot stay awake- 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak'. A cup (chalice) held aloft by angel in the upper left corner relate to the words spoken by Christ, 'If this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done' (Matthew 26:42). The gold leafed borders intricately and ornately incised with a repeating interwoven pattern. The lower margin with horizontal cartouche with inscription identifying the subject as, The Prayer of the Cup of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The lower left corner signed ***** P. Pashkov 1904. Verso of icon with stamp of the dynastic icon workshop of P.P. Pashkov, founded in Moscow in 1865. Additionally, the original price is also inscribed on verso-50 Rubles, an enormous sum at the time. In an excellent state of original preservation. 12.25 inches x 10.5 inches (31 x 27 cm).

The offered icon clearly draws from the painting of the same subject by noted German religious painter Johann Michael Ferdinand Heinrich Hofmann (1824-1911). While it is also somewhat similar to Bruni’s famous painting of the same theme with the exception of the angel, it would appear to be an exact copy of Hofmann’s famous painting which he executed in the year 1890 and which became immediately renowned and reproduced. The Pashkov family of iconographers of Moscow for decades enjoyed an excellent reputation and were patronized by the aristocracy as well as the Imperial family. In 1912, George Pashkov with his brother Nicholas participated in the decoration of the lower church Feodorovsky Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo and in 1914, also painted frescos in the Church of the Icon of the Mother of God Joy to All the Afflicted for the Community of the Sisters of Charity of the Red Cross in Tsarskoye Selo.