Olexander Klimenko | Vyshgorod (Vladimir) Icon of Mother of God - SOLD

OLEXANDER KLIMENKO
Vyshgorod (Vladimir) Icon of Mother of God, 2022

Tempera on wood from ammunition boxes abandoned by Russian soldiers on battle fields near Kyiv and rescued by Ukrainian deminers.

61 x 36.5cm | 24 x 14.4 in

A very significant image for Ukraine and Kyiv. In the 12th century this icon was kept in Vyshgorod - now one of the suburbs of Kyiv. When the Russian prince Andrei Bogolyubsky attacked Kyiv in 1169, among all the loot, he took the precious icon to Vladimir. Thus, the name of the icon changed - it became more often called Vladimir than Vyshgorod. Analogies with what is happening now in Ukraine speak for themselves. Bucha, Irpen, Gostomel are located only a few kilometers from Vyshgorod, which, only by chance, was not assaulted by the Russian army.

© Olexander Klimenko

Icons on Ammunition Boxes 
From 2015, Ukrainian artists Sonia Atlantova and Olexander Klimenko have been using wooden fragments from ammunition boxes abandoned by Russian soldiers on the battle fields in Ukraine to paint icons and donating all sale proceeds to mobile hospitals that provide urgent medical care to wounded Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in late February, 2022, their work remains more relevant than ever.