Icon: Ascension of Christ with the Hetoimasia

This icon is a typical example of the 15th-century Cretan-Venetian school that grew from the tradition of Byzantine court painting. This painting from the Matsukata Collection, along with the Death of the Virgin today in the Galleria Sabauda in Turin, is considered one of Ritzos' best large-scale icons. Very little inpainting has occurred in the centuries since its creation, and thus the work fully conveys Ritzos' considerable ability as a veteran icon painter.The painting shows the Ascension of Christ in the center with the "Hetoimasia," or empty throne that symbolizes God, above it. Ritzos has placed the Feast of Abraham at the top of the composition as the symbol of the Holy Trinity. Standing portraits of six saints are shown, three on the right (St. John the Baptist, St. Nicholas and St. Onuphrius) and three on the left (St. James the Greater, St. Anthony and St. Sebastian) of the central image. Half-length figures of Emperor Constantine, his mother Helen, St. Catherine, and St. Paraskeva appear in the lower section. The Greek signature that reads literally "by the hand of Andreas Ritzos" appears in the lower right, beneath the feet of St. Sebastian. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 1)