Holy Virgin Hodegetria (Our Lady of Smolensk), Transfiguration of Our Lord

Iconography:  Transfiguration of Our Lord, Our Lady of Smolensk

Date: XVI century. Second half of the 16th century

Origin: From the church commemorating saint apostle and evangelist John the Theologian in the Troitskaya-Blagoveshenskaya Sinozerskaya hermitage, Ustyuzhensky district, Novgorodskaya region (now – Chagodoshensky district, Vologoskaya region). The hermitage was founded in 1600 by Venerable Euphrosynus Sinozersky (+1612).

Material: Wood, tempera

Dimensions:  height 52,5 cm, width 40 cm

Double-sided processional icon. Waist-length depiction of the Mother of God with Child Jesus. He is sitting on the left hand of the Mother of God, His right hand is raised in a gesture of blessing, his left hand is holding a scroll.

On the reverse side is the scene of Transfiguration of Our Lord. On the central top of the rocky landscape is depicted Christ against the background of the glorious halo dressed in the white clothes decorated with the golden assist holding a scroll in His hands. At His sides on the lateral tops are standing: to the left – Elijah, to the right – Moses holding the table in his hands. In the lower part of the icon at the foot of the rocks are shown apostles Peter, John and Jacob.

Was deposited in 1936.

Restoration: the Sate Russian Museum, 1959, restorer – Konenkov S.F.

Inv. 1056/13. © Cherepovets Museum Association.

Bibliography: Куликова О.В. Древние лики Русского Севера. Из музейного собрания икон XIV-XIX веков города Череповца. М., 2009. Кат. № 33 (Илл. 33,34).

  • General view (obverse side)
  • Mother of God with the Divine Child
  • Face of the Mother of God
  • General view (reverse side)
  • Jesus Christ, prophets Elijah and Moses
  • Apostles Peter, John and Jacob