Travel icon depicting the Virgin of Smolensk, 19th century

Bronze casting with polychrome enamels

Height x width: 16 x 13.5 cm Weight: 578.7 g

An image of the Virgin Mary, which takes its name from the city of Smolensk. According to tradition, the icon was used to bless the streets of Constantinople by Constantine IX Monomachos on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Anna to Prince Vsevolod of Yaroslavl, and it arrived in Russia in the 11th century. Vladimir II Monomakh solemnly donated it to the city of Smolensk in the 12th century, and the image was placed in the Dormition Cathedral of Smolensk; however, it was later lost during the Second World War. This object also belongs to the group of Russian Old Believer icons, produced in series from the 17th century onwards. These artefacts were generally small in size and intended for private devotion. Their portability made them easy to carry and, when necessary, to conceal, thus meeting the religious needs of a community that, after the schism known as the Raskol, experienced periods of persecution by the official Russian Orthodox Church.