Travel icon depicting the Tikhvin Mother of God, 19th century

Bronze casting and polychrome enamels

Height × width: 10.5 × 9 cm Weight: 271.1 g.

One of the most venerated icons in Russia, it belongs to the Hodegetria iconographic type. Although it resembles other images of the Virgin and Child, the Tikhvin icon has a unique detail: the position of the Child, whose legs are crossed, with the sole of the right foot turned toward the viewer (a feature that distinguishes it from the Smolensk Mother of God).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.