Travel icon depicting the Hodegetria with the symbols of the Passion, Early XX century

Bronze casting with polychrome enamels

Height × Width: 10 × 8.5 cm Weight: 140 g

This icon belongs to the group of icons of the Russian Old Believers, mass-produced from the 17th century onward and characterized by strict adherence to the canons of Byzantine tradition. These objects, 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, after the schism known as the Raskol, endured periods of persecution by the official Russian Orthodox Church. The icon represents a late variant of the traditional Hodegetria type. The Child, depicted as a small adult, gazes upward toward the instruments of the Passion, appearing aware of His salvific destiny. The image thus combines the maternal tenderness of the Eleusa with the prophetic awareness of Christ’s redemptive mission. Among the best-known examples of this iconographic type is the Madonna of Perpetual Help; this variant of the Hodegetria spread widely during the 17th century. During the reign of Tsar Michael I of Russia, a miraculous icon of the Mother of God of the Passion was solemnly transferred from Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow; at the site of its reception, the Passion Monastery was established, becoming a major center of popular devotion.