Travel icon depicting Saint Antipas, 19th century

Bronze casting with polychrome enamels

Height × width: 10.5 × 9 cm Weight: 179.5 g

bishop of Pergamon who suffered martyrdom under Domitian or Nero. Tradition recounts that he was burned alive inside a red-hot bronze bull in the temple of Diana.The central composition is framed by a series of clipei that articulate its perimeter: the upper register features the Deesis flanked by archangels, while along the remaining three sides a sequence of full-length saints unfolds.This icon belongs to the group of Russian Old Believer icons, produced in series from the 17th century onward and characterized by a strict adherence to the canons of the Byzantine tradition. These artifacts, often made of bronze and sometimes enriched with colored enamels, 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, following the schism known as the Raskol, experienced periods of persecution by the official Russian Orthodox Church.