Bidspirit auction | [Patrons of Marriage and the

[Patrons of Marriage and the Household]. Icon ”The Holy Martyrs Abibus, Gurias and Samonas” with Neo-Russian Style Ornamental Borders. Russian Empire, 1860–1890. Wood, ark (kovcheg), two-thirds gesso over silver ground, tempera painting, tooled gesso, end-grain splines. Dimensions: 30.5 × 26 × 2 cm. Condition: very good; professional localised retouching of the paint layer; firm gesso; a barely visible, non-through crack in the panel, not affecting the strength or integrity of the support. The icon presents three full-length figures of the holy martyrs, with the Holy Mandylion bearing the miraculous image of the Face of Jesus Christ in the upper part. Gurias, Samonas and Abibus (3rd – early 4th century) are Christian holy martyrs and confessors, venerated in Orthodox tradition as patrons of marriage and guardians of the domestic hearth. The iconography follows the established canon: Abibus — a young, beardless deacon in a sticharion, holding a censer and/or a cross; Gurias — a grey-haired elder with a long beard, wearing a chiton and himation; Samonas — a middle-aged man with dark hair and a short beard, likewise in a chiton and himation. The wide borders are decorated with an elaborate geometric ornament in the Neo-Russian style, underscoring the metropolitan level of the commission and placing the icon within the circle of works of late Russian historicism. Icons of Gurias, Samonas and Abibus are encountered far less frequently than the more common subjects.