Russian icon from the Old Believers' Workshops, 19th century.
"Resurrection of Christ, Christ's Descent into Hell, and his life in 12 hagiographic scenes".
Tempera on panel.
It presents losses of the pictorial layer.
Measurements: 53 x 44,5 cm.
Christ's descent into hell is one of the most important representations in Christian iconography. This passage was known in Ancient Rus since the 11th century, although it gained maximum popularity in the second half of the 14th century. Iconography of this New Testament passage finally developed in the 17th century in Moscow workshops. In this period, the icon reached its maximum complexity, combining the New and Old Testament passages, and in turn, composing in one the scenes of the resurrection and Christ's descent into hell.
The icon of interest, in spite of its relatively simple composition, a central register surrounded by 12 hagiographic scenes, turns out to be very attractive for the symbolism of the symbolic details that accompanies each one of the miniatures. In the central scene, which forms the theme of the icon, one can find representations of the devil and hell, very uncommon in orthodox iconography. The open mouth of the monstrous dragon is the allegory of hell. While the devil is in the lower right corner of the scene, represented as a naked being, with a beard ending in a beak and in profile - the three main features of the devil or sinners in an orthodox icon -.
The central scene is framed in a decorative border, imitating wood carving. The twelve scenes around it represent passages of the life of Jesus Christ, from his birth to the resurrection, as well as some passages of Marian character, being the last scene of the shekel, the burial of the Virgin, in the lower left corner.
A curious detail of this piece is found in the ninth scene, which represents the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, located in the lower right corner. The inscription "????" is the Cyrillic translation of the Latin phrase "INRI". It is a very unusual inscription on the icons of the Russian Old Believers, since it ended up causing a lot of controversy, regarding the direct citation of Pontius Pilate, Christ's murderer. The fact that it accompanies the cross helps to determine the early date of the creation of this icon, around 1700, when this inscription was still used by Old Believer painters.