In 1864–1919, an art workshop was established at the Saint Seraphim Convent in the village of Ponetaevka. Researchers note the high professional level of the nuns who worked in it: for their achievements, many sisters were awarded silver crosses, and Abbess Evpraxia (her secular name was Glykeria Zanyatova, she took monastic vows in 1870) — the gold one.

The icon “Our Lady of the Sign” painted by Pavel Semyonovich Sorokin was delivered from Moscow to the workshop specifically to train the icon painters. In 1879, one of the nuns, Claudia Voyloshnikova, created a copy of this image, which was placed in a cell of the abbot’s residence. A few years later, the first miracle took place, witnessed by the sisters of the monastery: the face of the Virgin brightened, and she looked over each nun. The miracle was repeated twice, in the evening and at night, after which the icon was moved to the church. From that moment on, believers began to receive healing from diseases in front of the image. In the same year, by decree of the Holy Synod, the icon was declared miraculous and placed in the Church of the Life-Giving Spring in the monastery.

The presented icon is a copy of the miraculous image painted in the same workshop.

The image “Our Lady of the Sign” embodies the Old Testament prophecy of the “fifth evangelist” Isaiah, who said:

The half-length image of the Mother of God with raised hands and gaze directed upwards belongs to the iconographic type “Orans”. At the level of her chest is a half-length image of Christ Emmanuel, He blesses with His right hand and holds a scroll in His left one. Both figures are enclosed in circles, which creates a second background layer, with an ombre from blue to white, and a light ocher color in the corners.

The blue color symbolizes the Divine nature of the Christ Child and pink — childhood. The panel of the icon consists of five linden boards tightly fitted to each other. The reverse and other sides of panel are densely painted in oils. An old metal ring for hanging has been preserved in the center of the panel above the upper batten.

Copies of the icon “Our Lady of the Sign of Ponetaevka” were widespread mainly in the Nizhny Novgorod and adjacent governorates. After the revolution of 1917, icon painting was prohibited.

Presumably, this icon comes from the Nativity Church in the town of Balakhna. It became part of the museum’s collection in the late 1920s.

In 2004, the artifact was restored by Valery Fyodorovich Kosushkin at the Moscow Interregional Scientific and Restoration Art Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.