tempera, board, chalk-plaster base; silver hardware;
Total dimensions: h 42.5 x 73 cm.
Russia, Frias school of icon writing, 18th century (1720-1780); 19th century hardware.
Diptych with engraved hardware on the corners and explanatory Cyrillic inscriptions on the frame at the top.
In the left quadrant, a scene of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: in the center on a stepped pedestal - the Cross illuminated by a sheaf of beaming rays from the heavens, supported by Emperor Constantine and Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem; dignitaries and clergy all around. On the left - under the canopy - the emperor's mother, Saint Helena; it was she who found three crosses during her expedition to Jerusalem (circa 320-330): one of them, according to legend, turned out to be an authentic holy relic that revived the deceased (the miracle is symbolized by a figure in a white shroud sitting on the steps at the bottom right of the painting).
In the right quadrant - an elaborate, several-story scene - the Council of All Saints, with the central figure of Archangel Michael personifying the forces fighting evil. At the top, God the Father and Christ are seated in the clouds, accompanied on the sides by winged cherubs. Below, numerous figures of saints, patriarchs and clerics.
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