Iconography is one of the most ancient directions of art. After all, he is already at least 1000 years old. Private collections contain various relics of spiritual mastery. And often it is a matter of personal prestige of each collector to find out the real age of the icon. Moreover, this can be determined by several parameters.
Instruction manual
1
If you want to get a detailed analysis of the icon - age, condition, who wrote it, etc. - then you better give it to the icon-painting workshop. There, masters who are specially trained and know all the subtleties will be able to tell you as much as possible about your relic.
2
If you want to determine for yourself what period your icon belongs to, look at the basis on which it is painted. Very ancient were always depicted on a tree. But with this point you need to be very careful. Indeed, in some cases, modern icon painters can draw it "antique". And it will be difficult for a person who is ignorant of the basics of painting and religious culture to determine how ancient the icon is in front of him.
3
But on the plate, the icons were made in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Usually, the name of the factory was indicated at the end. If it is and is well preserved, then you can try to restore the age of the icon from it. The only minus of such an icon is that it does not represent any artistic value. It is interesting only from the point of view of historical and cultural heritage.
4
In the event that you are well versed in the intricacies of the work of different icon painters, the age of the icon can be determined precisely by the style of their work. Some artists of past centuries on the back of a religious painting left certain nicks. They did this in order to leave themselves a kind of reminder of who the customer is, what the plot of the future image should be and how much time it has to complete this work.
5
Equally important for determining the age of the icon is the technique of applying paint. Over the centuries, it has changed regularly. Also pay attention to the primer base. This is also an important indicator of the antiquity of the image. Well, and of course, the image itself. Each century has its own manner of depicting the faces of saints. In order to understand all the intricacies, arm yourself with the vocabulary of an art critic and begin to study your work of art.
Useful advice
It’s best to find out the age of your relic in advance. Because if one day you want to take your icon abroad, but don’t know how old she is, you can easily be stopped at the border. Works of art over 100 years old cannot be taken out of the country without a specific accompanying package of documents.
