Virgin of Vladimir (ICON) 9" x 6"

The original Virgin of Vladimir Icon, written in about 1137, is the oldest surviving icon brought from Byzantium to Russia. It has endured numerous disasters. When the Cathedral where it was housed was burnt by Muslim Tatars in 1237, the image was badly damaged, although the faces remained intact. Later the icon was placed in the Moscow Kremlin as a symbol of the Russian Orthodox faith. In December 1918, it was forcibly removed from its jeweled shrine by the Bolsheviks and shipped to a studio for scientific tests and restoration. Now considered a national treasure, the Virgin of Vladimir Icon is under glass in the Tretyakov Gallery, where it is still one of the most loved and venerated Orthodox Icons. This powerful image has inspired many iconographic variants. It captures as accurately as possible what the original prototype communicates to the viewer. As Jesus looks lovingly into the eyes of the grace-filled mother He has chosen, she in turn looks out to all humanity, pondering the f