Double-sided icons originated in Byzantium. Examples of such icons include the earliest Russian miracle-working icons of the Virgin Mary, such as Our Lady of Vladimir, Our Lady of the Sign, and Our Lady of Saint Theodore. As a rule, one side featured the image of the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, while the other one showed a saint or a feast corresponding to the name of the church.
-sized double-sided icons are often referred to as “altarpiece” or “processional” because they were traditionally placed behind the altar during services and brought out of the church for processions of the Cross. An example of this type of icon is “Virgin Hodegetria — Nicholas the Wonderworker”.
“Hodegetria” (Our Lady of the Way) is a miracle-working icon from the Hodegon Monastery in Constantinople. It is also the name for a popular iconographic depiction of the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus. The earliest mention of the Hodegon Monastery can be found in “Selections from Church History” by Theodorus Lector which dates back to the turn of the 6th century. His writings were also retold by later Byzantine authors. According to this ancient literary source, an icon of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus was brought to Constantinople from Jerusalem around 450 AD. Legend has it that the icon was painted by Saint Luke the Evangelist.
According to researchers, the icon from the exhibition originated from the St. Nicholas Church in Mikulino, the ancestral village of the Mikulin princes, who were a branch of the Tver grand ducal family that ruled over their territory in the 14th and 15th centuries. The iconographic details suggest that it was inspired by the original icon that was venerated on Mount Athos.
The depiction of the facial features of the Virgin
and Child is characterized by structural clarity. At the same time, there is a
softness and a contrast between the lighter and darker areas. The color palette
is muted, while the face of St. Nicholas, on the other hand, seems to have more
contrasting colors and is more detailed. It is likely that the icon was created
by two painters. However, it is also possible that there was only one artist
who made a conscious choice to use different techniques to contrast the
tenderness in the female and child’s faces and the maturity of the male face.
