Mother of God of Kazan' (Kazanskaja), 20th century

Egg tempera on panel

Height x width: 30.5 x 26 cm

One of the most venerated Marian images in Russian Orthodoxy and a historical protector of the nation. The Virgin is depicted in a half-length, narrow-shouldered pose, her head inclined deeply—with an air of both protection and tender melancholy—toward the Christ Child, who stands on the right, positioned frontally and in a strictly vertical posture. Mary wears a characteristic brownish-purple maphorion (veil) with pronounced folds highlighted in gold; on the shoulders, it is adorned with a star—rendered via punched metalwork—symbolizing her perpetual virginity. The Christ Child is shown standing, visible down to the knees; his right hand is raised in a gesture of blessing, while his left hand and the rest of his body are draped in the golden folds of a chiton and himation. The faces of the sacred figures are rendered with refined, nuanced brushwork, featuring amber-toned complexions and intense gazes directed straight at the viewer.