Pectoral icon depicting the Virgin of Smolensk and Selected Saints - 19th century

Height × width: 9 × 6.5 cm Weight: 97.6 g.
Bronze casting
The Virgin of Smolensk is an image of the Virgin, named after the city of Smolensk. According to tradition, the icon was used to bless the streets of Constantinople by Constantine IX Monomachos on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Anna to Prince Vsevolod of Yaroslavl, and it reached Russia in the 11th century. Vladimir II Monomakh solemnly donated it to the city of Smolensk in the 12th century; the image was then placed in the Cathedral of the Dormition, but was later lost during the Second World War. The representation of the Virgin is surrounded by a Deesis, followed by archangels and saints. The object belongs to the group of icons of the Russian Old Believers, mass-produced from the 17th century onwards. These artifacts were generally small in size and intended for private devotion; their portability made them easy to carry and, if necessary, to conceal, thus meeting the religious needs of a community that, after the schism known as the Raskol, experienced periods of persecution by the official Russian Orthodox Church.



Item condition grading: **** good.
The lot is in a good state of preservation with the normal wear and defects commensurate with its age and use over time.