The vestments of the Virgin in icons correspond to the clothes of a married Jewish woman. She is depicted in a long tunic, usually blue or light blue (a symbol of purity) and a wide veil covering her head and shoulders — the maphorion. The red color of the maphorion is interpreted as a symbol of royalty and sacrificial suffering. Three stars on it designate the perpetual virginity of Mary. The face of the Virgin is always gentle and sad.

The most common Orthodox iconographic types include the Orans (“One who is Praying”), Hodegetria (“Our Lady of the Way”), the Eleusa (“Merciful” and a similar image Glykophilousa — “Virgin of the Sweet Kiss”), the Panachranta (“All-Immaculate”) and the Hagiosoritissa.

The icon presented in the exhibition belongs to the Hodegetria type. The Mother of God, supporting her Son with one hand, with the other she points to Him as the true Way — “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) — and acts as a guide between the world of people and the Divine world. In the center of the composition is Christ Himself, who raises His right hand in a blessing gesture, and in His left holds a symbol of the Word of God — a scroll.

The presented artifact was created by a Borisovka icon painter. He only painted Their faces and hands, and the legs of the Baby. The rest of the icon space was covered by a revetment that has not survived to this day.

The icon was kept for a long time in the painter’s family, passed down from parents to children. In the mid-20th century, it was donated to the museum.