Travel icon depicting the Three Holy Hierarchs, 19th century

Bronze casting and polychrome enamels

Height x width: 13 × 9 cm Weight: 139 g.

Saint Basil the Great, Saint Gregory the Theologian, and Saint John Chrysostom are honored in the Orthodox tradition as patrons of education and knowledge. Above the main scene is a lunette in which God emerges from the clouds. This icon also 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 allowed them to be easily carried and, if necessary, concealed, 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.