An icon of St Michael of Melania and St Nicholas the Wonderworker standing below an image of the Feodorovskaya Mother of God, attributed to Mikhail Dikarev and his workshop, circa 1913

St Michael of Melania was the patron St of Michail Feodorovich, the first Emperor of the Romanov dynasty, who was elected Tsar by the Zemsky Sobor in 1613, so bringing the Times of Troubles to an end. St Nicholas was the patron Saint of the last Romanov Emperor, Nicholas II Alexandrovich, who celebrated the tercentenary of the dynasty before the events of 1917 caused him to abdicate and bring the dynasty to an end. The Feodorovskaya Mother of God was the patron icon of the Romanov family. These three elements of the composition, and the fine quality of the painting, strongly suggest that the offered panel was a gift either to or from the Emperor in connection to the Romanov tercentenary of 1913.

Mikhail Ivanovich Dikarev was one of the best-known and influential Russian icon painters of the turn of the 20th century. Trained in Mstera, he worked together with Joseph Semenovich Chirikov and Vasily Pavlovich Guryanov for Emperor Nicholas II and other members of the Imperial family. One of the most famous works of Dikarev is the series of icons which he painted together with Chirikov for the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg. He was also known as a restorer, and worked on the restoration of icons in Kostroma in connection with the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty.

We are grateful to Ivan Samarine for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.