Icon depicting the Dormition of the Virgin, 19th century

Bronze casting with polychrome enamels

Height × Width: 28 × 24 cm Weight: 2,257 g.

At the center of the scene, Mary is laid out on a tall bier. Behind the funeral bed stands Christ, who holds in his arms a small figure wrapped in white swaddling clothes, representing the pure soul of the Virgin, reborn into new life in heaven. This icon belongs to the group of Russian Old Believers’ icons, mass-produced from the 17th century onward and characterized by a strict adherence to the canons of the Byzantine tradition. Such artifacts, often made of bronze and sometimes enriched with colored enamels, were generally small in size and intended for private devotion. Their portability allowed them to be easily carried and, if necessary, concealed, thus meeting the religious needs of a community that, following the schism known as the Raskol, experienced periods of persecution by the official Russian Orthodox Church.