Icon Paintings

I found these two icon paintings at Goodwill of all places. They are done well, in my opinion, red ground, gold leaf and then painted. I guess it's tempera paint but I'm not sure how to tell. There's also texture stamped patterns too. I'm attaching a lot pictures, but if you need a more detailed pic let me know. The gold is much brighter than some photos show.

I don't think they are from a home store like Marshalls or Pier 1, usually things like this I see there are painted black on the back and these are raw wood. The large oval piece is signed Isabel on the bottom front where the other is signed on the side "Isabel Maguer or Maguez? 94" in what looks like ball point pen. So I know these aren't antique obviously. I did figure out the small image is San Giorgio from the SANT’EMIDIO POLYPTYCH but I'm not sure who the other image. If anyone know that gentleman please let me know. I'm interested in what kind of value I could place on these, any advice on this is appreciated.

 

"King of Horns", from a 15th century set of playing cards, now at the Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/475526

I would not describe either as "icons" - they are not objects of religious devotion. I think Isabel was practicing medieval techniques, and chose those images to copy.

 

I see "Isabel Marquez" too.

Debora

 

Thank you! I wasn't sure how to describe them, I just know icons to have to gold leaf, thanks for your explanation.

 

Agree not icons. "Wooden panels with Medieval figures" is how I would describe them.

Debora

 

They're nicely done. Value is decorative.

Debora

 

Perhaps that's a rule with certain denominations, but in our hands-on experience icons do not have to have gold leaf.

 

Agreed.

Not sure I can agree with this in general. EDITED TO SAY "do not have to have" - means icons can have gold leaf - am I now reading this right?

The wood plaques from Goodwill do appear to have gold leaf, rather than gold paint, but hard to tell. In any event, tempera paint is fragile, as is gold paint or gold leaf, so the surfaces will need protection for shipping.

 

anti, correct. The post we were quoting implied an icon had to have gold leaf. We're saying an icon could have gold leaf, but it's not a requirement -- so some icons may have it, others definitely don't. The presence of gold leaf doesn't automatically stamp an image as an icon, and the absence of gold leaf doesn't disqualify an image from being an icon.

 

agreed, thanks for your clarification