Annunciation

A small portable icon of the Annunciation, originating from Alaya in Asia Minor and preserved by Gesthimani Ouzounoglou. The scene is rendered in a simplified manner with vivid colours, characteristic of early 20th-century Asia Minor folk painting. The Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin are depicted frontally, while rays of light descend from the upper part of the composition.
The icon shows extensive wear, with paint loss and cracks in the wood, indicative of long-term use and of the difficult conditions of preservation during the uprooting. A notable detail is that this icon was awarded to Gesthimani Ouzounoglou as a prize in a running race in Alaya, making it a distinctive document of the everyday religious life of the Greeks of Alaya. It was also repeatedly used as a healing object for sick residents of the Greek quarter within Alaya Castle.
Kindly made available for photography by her grandson, Giannis Margonis.