Russian Tempera Icon Of The Protection 19th Century Intercession Of Theotokos

Icon "The Intercession of the Theotokos, or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever - Virgin Mary", is a Christian feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches on October 1 (Julian calendar: October 14). The feast celebrates the protection afforded the faithful through the intercessions of the Theotokos (lit. Mother of God, one Eastern title of the Virgin Mary). The feast is commemorated in Eastern Orthodoxy as a whole. In the Slavic Orthodox Churches it is celebrated as the most important solemnity besides the Twelve Great Feasts and Pascha. Icons belongs to the category of art which needs to be seen in the flesh, rather than viewed through reproductions and images. The icons visually reveal themselves immediately on an aesthetic level, but to reveal deeper connections and meaning will require a little effort on your part. They are designed to allow the beholder and praying to “enter” the image and through the icon to rise to a higher level of spiritual development. About a hundred years after Christ’s death, in "Apocryphal Acts of St John", the difference is spelt out between a portrait and an icon likeness. The saint distinguishes an icon which is the “likeness of the soul” and the portrait which is “a dead likeness of the dead”. If you are interested in art that can change your spiritual life, then this icon is for you... This very high quality (see fragments) egg tempera painting on wood, gold leaf and gesso on linen. 
Size app.: 35 cm (roughly 13.8 in) high, 30.3 cm (roughly 11.9 in) wide, 2.8 cm (roughly 1.1 in) deep. Pretty good condition with number of losses. Please study good resolution images for overall cosmetic condition. In person actual item may appear darker or brighter than in our pictures, strictly depending on sufficient light in your environment. Weight of app. 1.5 kg is going to measure some 3 kg packed for shipmed.