The Resurrection—the Descent into Hell, with Church Feasts in 12 Border Scenes, Pentecost, the Pokrov, the Beheading of John the Baptist, and the Prophet Elias in the Desert

Eastern Orthodox Church icons of Feasts were especially popular among the faithful largely due to their practicality (a single hand-painted icon contained the main events of the liturgical year), which made such religious icon paintings a kind of the home’s small iconostasis.

In folk culture, these hand-painted Orthodox icons were seen as a sort of agricultural calendar, the cycle of which was clearly linked with the feasts of the liturgical year. The Nativity of the Mother of God (September 8^th) was the day when bees had to be locked away, and onion had to be collected. The Elevation of the Holy Cross (September 14^th) reminded about the coming of winter and the beginning of the harvesting period. The Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple (November 21^st) was the day when winter came into its own, marking the beginning of the sleigh ride season. The Nativity of Christ (December 25^th) was the main family feast, the celebration of which embraced several old, pre-Christian Slavonic traditions known as Svyatki. According to popular beliefs, river waters blessed at the Feast of the Theophany (January 6^th) held special powers. This water was collected and used throughout the year to bless the home, farm, and livestock belonging to a family. Candlemas (February 2^nd) symbolized the meeting of Winter and Spring. On that day, Russian peasants organized ritual fist-fights to help the incoming spring. Water blessed on Candlemas was also seen as especially sacred. On the Annunciation (March 25^th), the peasants burned their old straw beds to prevent the return of the last year’s maladies. Crumbs of the prosphora (holy bread) received on that day were preserved and placed in the ground with the seed grain. Pussy willow branches – blessed in Russia instead of palms during the Entrance into Jerusalem Feast – were used for healing the sick. On the Ascension, the Russians boiled eggs and made pies and pancakes that were taken to the procession across the fields by the villagers asking for a good harvest. Pentecost or the Holy Trinity Feast (the 50^th day after Pascha) was the time of the rebirth of the land and forests. On that day, churches and homes were decorated with green tree branches and flowers – as the symbols of Eternal Life. On the Transfiguration (August 6^th), ripe apples and fruits were brought to the church and blessed; this was followed by the blessings of the fields with holy water. The evening of the Transfiguration marked the last farewell to the Summer sun and the meeting of Autumn. The Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15^th) marked the end of the harvest season when priests blessed the harvested crops in churches. This was seen as the best time for the sowing the late seeds. The Beheading of John the Baptist ended the summer and began the Autumn season. It was the day of strict fasting, with the villagers abstaining from all round types of food, as well as from dancing and singing, remembering the cruelty of Salome.

The stylistic characteristics of the given antique Russian icon, especially its dark color pallet, the olive-brown color of the borders, and the dry gold hatching of the vestments, all attest to the fact that this piece of Eastern Orthodox Church icons was painted in the late 19^th century. Instead of the traditional depictions of the Four Evangelists usually seen in the corners of such religious icon paintings, this antique Russian icon includes other Feasts (Pentecost, the Pokrov, the Beheading of John the Baptist, the Prophet Elias in the Desert) that expand the Festive cycle and give the religious icon a more universal character.

The embossed oklad frame brings more structure to the given hand-painted Orthodox icon. The complex, floral ornamentation on the religious icon borders imitates the 17^th-century silverwork: the vines take a spiral shape, and all floral texture is brilliantly executed by the silversmith. Such ornamentation was widespread among ecclesiastic silversmiths in the 1860s and endured until the end of the 19^th century.

This beautiful piece of antique Russian icons is definitely a worthy addition to any religious icon collection.