Artwork
Saint Elias's Fiery Ascension
Saint Elias's Fiery Ascension is a tempera painting. It dates from 1600 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
6 cm and dates to 1600, reflecting the religious art practices of early Russian painting.
The work portrays the biblical figure Saint Elias being taken up in flames, a motif drawn from apocryphal tradition that emphasizes divine elevation and prophetic authority. The composition includes a horse, underscoring movement and the swift, celestial ascent. Rendered in tempera on panel, the painting measures 68.6 cm by 60.6 cm and dates to 1600, reflecting the religious art practices of early Russian painting.
Its iconography combines fire, clouds, and the saint’s outstretched arms to symbolize purification and the transition from earthly suffering to heavenly glory, a theme resonant with the Metropolitan Museum’s collection of Russian religious paintings.
Technique & Style
The work Saint Elias's Fiery Ascension is a tempera painting executed on a wooden panel. Measuring 68.6 cm in height by 60.6 cm in width, it was created in 1600 and is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The composition centers on a horse, rendered with the flat, matte surface characteristic of tempera, and belongs to the religious genre typical of early Russian iconography.
The painting’s formal qualities include a restrained palette, linear outlines, and a focus on narrative clarity, reflecting the stylistic conventions of Russian religious art in the early 17th century.
History & Provenance
Saint Elias's Fiery Ascension is a religious painting executed in tempera on panel around 1600 by an anonymous Russian artist. The work measures 68.6 cm by 60.6 cm and depicts a horse in a dynamic composition. It was created as part of the Russian school's devotional output in the early 17th century and subsequently entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on public view.
No documentary evidence indicates a specific patron or commissioning event; the piece is documented only through its attribution and accession records.
Saint Elias's Fiery Ascension is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains on view in the museum's holdings. The work, executed in tempera on panel, is catalogued within the institution's collection of religious paintings.
Its recorded physical dimensions are 68.6 cm in height by 60.6 cm in width, consistent with a small devotional panel of the early seventeenth century. No specific accession number is recorded in the available sources, and no exhibition history beyond its inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection is documented.
Overview
This tempera painting, titled Saint Elias's Fiery Ascension, depicts a dramatic religious narrative. At its center, a haloed figure stands within a luminous circle, accompanied by two winged angels. Below, another bearded man lies prostrate, gesturing upwards towards the celestial event.
The background features natural elements like trees and a palm frond, along with a small architectural structure, grounding the divine spectacle within an earthly setting.
Artist & collection
