b'6Joseph Greenberg IconsWhen he was working in the UK in the 50s and 60s,in the Church of the Resurrection (also called The Holy Joseph Greenberg assembled a collection of icons andSepulchre) in Jerusalem itself. Such images were almost statuary from both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions.all painted in workshops within the Holy City, and this is a His motives for collecting in this field are not clear. He mayparticularly fine example.have appreciated them in a similar manner to the AfricanAlmost every scene and figure contained within this and Melanesian figures that were also on his radaraspainting relates to a specific place in or near Jerusalem appealing and exotic artefacts from distant lands. Theirthat is mentioned in Scriptures; and which would therefore artistic and spiritual qualities may also have been anhave formed part of the Pilgrims itinerary during his or her attraction. It is true that Byzantine iconography makes itsstay in the Holy Land. Even the port of Jaffa, where the way into some of his own paintings and collages. Pilgrim would have disembarked, appears in the bottom Collecting in this field fifty years ago was very differentleft corner.to what it is today. Things could be found in markets andThe complexity of this painting is such that it is best antique stores that would never appear now. Icon paintingdecoded through means of a numbered diagram. Suffice was still an unusual, even an esoteric pursuit, a longit to say that the canvas is dominated by a representation way from being fashionable. Consequently, a person ofof the Walled City of Jerusalem, surmounted by a vision of moderate means, provided he or she had the eye and athe Last Judgement, unfolding beneath a symbolic image bit of luck, could still make very good acquisitions. of the Holy Trinity. Within the City, we see the Church As a result, the Greenberg collection includes some worksof the Holy Sepulchre opened out before us. Within are of considerable interest. Most of the icons are from thevisible the grotto of the tomb of Jesus and the Shrine of Greek speaking world, but there are also some Russian,the Anastasis or Aedicula, over which the Resurrected Coptic and Levantine images. Christ is rising. Immediately adjacent, the Greek Orthodox Of special note is a large composite image dating to thePatriarch of Jerusalem receives two lighted tapers from end of the 18th century (see lot 9). Painted on canvasangels. This is the core of the entire work: the Miracle of rather than the more usual wooden panel, this is a rarethe Holy Fire that our Pilgrim would have witnessed one and important example of a Pilgrims souvenir of theyear around the close of the 18th century.Holy Places, known in Greek as a Proskynetarion. FewerIt is very unusual to encounter one of these complex than 150 of these survive, and most of these are intopographical icons. Another example, almost certainly European collections.from the same atelier and dated 1793, can be found in the The purpose of a Proskynetarion was to provide the PilgrimByzantine Museum in Athens. with a visual and devotional memento of the ChristianGordon Morrison Hajjthe visit to the Holy Land specifically to witness theDirector, Ballarat Art Gallery 20032018.Miracle of the Holy Fire, celebrated at Orthodox Easter 5'