The Holy Mother of Bogolyubsky icon belongs to the Agiosoritissa iconographic type. The name is derived from the Greek church of the Holy Urn, Agia Soros, where this image was first found. In the Greek tradition, it has one more name, Paraklesis (Advocate); in Russian, Intercessor. Such type of icons show the Holy Mother full-length, praying to Jesus. This topic is thought to be part of a composition, which is called deisis (obsecration) where the enthroned Jesus the Pantocrator on the day of the Last Judgement is approached by the Holy Mother and John the Baptist praying for forgiveness for mankind. 

The image on display at the Rybinsk Museum Reserve was painted at the turn of the 19th century. The painting style, the colour array, and the techniques help attribute the icon to the Romanov school, which developed from the school of Yaroslavl and was distinguished by its fineness and minute details of painting, abundant gilding, and a noble colour range. The name of the icon-painting centre derived from the city of Romanov-Borisoglebsk, where icon painters of that school were based. 

The paint was applied to a wooden substratum covered with a gesso ground, a glue and chalk mix. The saints’ faces and the background was painted in tempera, a paint made of powdered pigments thinned down with yolk. The halos and the robe folds of the Holy Mother’s and the saints were covered with leaf gold, and the prominent parts of the faces were marked with white paint.

The icon The Holy Mother of Bogolyubsky, among other 45 images, was found in the country house of the Mikhalkovs, Russian noblemen’s family, in the village of Petrovskoye near Rybinsk.