Icon of the Trinity, Annunciation of the Mother of God and the Burning Bush
This Orthodox icon of the Mother of God “Burning Bush” is a revered image symbolizing divine protection, particularly against fires and disasters. The icon draws inspiration from the Old Testament story of Moses and the burning yet unconsumed bush, which is seen as a prophetic symbol of the Immaculate Conception—the Virgin Mary carrying Christ while remaining untouched by sin. The history of finding the miraculous icon is unknown. The very name of the icon goes back to the Old Testament. The Burning Bush is a burning but non-burning thorn bush in which God appeared to Moses. The bush marks the immaculate conception by the Mother of God of the Infant Jesus from the Holy Spirit.
This late 17th-century Russian icon of the Holy Trinity, the Annunciation and the Virgin of the Burning Bush was part of the Victor Provatoroff Collection (London). It was exhibited in the Musée d'Art et Histoire in Geneva in 1974.⠀ ⠀ Recently the icon was sold through Morsink Icon Gallery and it is part of a private European collection at the moment.⠀ ⠀ Against a gold background, the Holy Trinity, the Annunciation and the Virgin of the Burning Bush are depicted, accompanied by elaborate texts in Slavonic. All three scenes follow traditional iconography and have been painted in detail. The Trinity appears in a segment of heaven on the upper border, crowning the scene of the Annunciation. The archangel Gabriel raises his right hand to greet and bless the Virgin Mary. The standing Virgin opens her right hand, as a gesture of acceptance of God’s grace. In the scene below, the Mother of God appears with the Christ Child in the centre. In the spaces between the triangular points of the red and green star shapes are angels and archangels, representing divine powers. The symbols of the four evangelists are represented in the points of the red star. In the upper left, Moses and the Burning Bush is shown, in the upper right Isaiah is receiving the vision of the ‘Emmanuel’, in the lower left the vision of Ezekiel is shown, and finally in the lower right corner Jacob is having the vision of Jacob’s Ladder.⠀
In the margins are written texts from the Bible in Church Slavonic.
The icon is made by printing on a wooden board. Paints are mineral, do not fade with time. The thickness of the board is 2 cm. The board is covered with primer by hand. The image is covered with wax. Each icon has a metal mount on the back side so that you can hang the icon on the wall. The icon has no recess, the surface is smooth.
