The icon exhibited in the State Museum of Fine Arts of Khanty-Mansiysk was painted in the Volga region in the first half of the 19th century. The upper part of the icon shows the Archistratigus Michael with a trumpet riding a red horse. In the Orthodoxy, the ‘Archistratigus’ means the Head Angel in charge of the army of angels. Michael is holding the Gospels in his left hand and an incensory and a spear in his right hand. That iconographic image was called Michael the Battlemaster; as a rule, a prostrated dragon or devil was painted at his feet.

To the right of the Archangel there is an icon ‘The Fiery Ascension of Elijah the Prophet to Heaven’. As a rule, that icon contained several hagiographic subjects of the life of the Prophet: his staying in the cave, the appearance of an angel to Elijah in his sleep, the ascension in a fiery chariot. Also, his disciple Elisha was painted to catch Elijah’s falling mantle (a symbol of the God’s grace), together with an episode when Elisha hit the water of the river Jordan with the mantle and the water disparted. The icon exhibited in the State Museum of Fine Arts of Khanty-Mansiysk contains only three subjects: Elijah in the cave, Elisha with the falling mantle, and the chariot.

A special setting was made for the icon: an ornamental overlay of a light alloy. It covered all the surface of the icon except the holy pictures. Impression on the setting replicated the image of the icon itself. The frame was decorated with a floral ornament.

The ikon was kept in the collection of the St. Petersburg philanthropist Viktor Samsonov. In 1996 the icon was purchased by the Generations Fund of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District for its gallery ‘Rarities and Art Treasures’. 15 years later, the icon was handed over to the State Museum of Fine Arts of Khanty-Mansiysk.