The image of the Holy Virgin on this 17th century icon traces back to the Hodigitria type: she sits on the throne with a baby in her lap. The combination of the colours in the icon is traditional to Yaroslavl icons of that age. The deep scarlet, dark green, and ochroid colours of the clothes stand out against a light background running from lilac to pale green. The folds of the clothing are conveyed by a sophisticated combination of golden, silvery and white spots, faded parts of the image.

The name of the icon is associated with a story of a prophecy made by Daniel as he interpreted Nebuchadnezaar’s dream. The king of Babylon had a vision of a stone which fell off a mountain and struck a statue. Daniel said the God of Heaven would erect an unshakeable kingdom. In his prediction, the mountain symbolized the Church of the New Testament, and the stone the forthcoming immaculate birth of the Saviour.

Iconographically, the image is also based on a church hymn, the so-called acathistus to the Virgin Mary, praising God’s Mother and Christ. The symbols in the icon composition illustrate the hymn epithets. In front of the Virgin Mary there is a candelabrum with burning candles, on her chest there is a picture of a mountain and a ladder, the heavenly ladder, i.e. a bridge between the secular and celestial worlds; the borderline between these worlds are shown in the icon by means of thick and dark green clouds. The Holy Mother and the child sit on a throne symbolizing the heavenly throne. It is decorated with floral ornaments and designed to remind of the picture of heaven. The symbols in the icon are intertwined and emphasize the regal status of the Holy Mother.

The upper part of the icon depicts the Lord Sabaoth with a halo above. He is surrounded by symbols of the four evangelists, the apostles who are accepted as the authors of the canonical gospels.

The icon was originally on display in the Prophet Elijah Church in the city of Yaroslavl. Assumably, it was painted by Ivan Dyakonov, one of the artists who worked on the very first iconostasis of the church. One distinctive feature of the icon is the image of a flying archangel with a cross. This feature is normally characteristic of a different icon, Holy Mother of the Passion. In this case, the image of an angel was the artist’s own interpretation, a rare thing in icon painting.