Small travel diptych - 18th century

Height × width: 4 × 5.5 cm. Weight: 27.7 g.
Bronze casting
Intended for private devotion, this object can be attributed to the production of the Russian Old Believers from the seventeenth century onward. It features a structure composed of two hinged panels, conceived as a small portable altar. The principal panel is occupied by a Deesis, depicting Christ enthroned and flanked by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist, a central image of intercession and the Last Judgment in the Byzantine tradition. The second panel depicts two figures in the act of venerating an icon of the Virgin. This iconographic combination reflects the composite nature of Old Believer devotion, which unites the theological dimension of the *Deesis* with the protective and everyday role of holy figures. The cover of the diptych bears on its front a stylized representation of the Cross of Golgotha, while the reverse is decorated with punched circular motifs, probably ornamental and symbolic in character, and attributable to the decorative repertoire of Old Believer devotional metalwork. These objects, often small in size and mass-produced, were designed to be easily carried or concealed, thus meeting the needs of a community that, following the schism known as the Raskol, experienced periods of persecution and dispersion.



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