The image of “Our Lady of the Uncut Mountain” belongs to the Akathist icons of the Virgin Mary. Their iconography is based on the principle of illustrating epithets applied to the Mother of God in the Akathist and other hymns. The primary task of these images was to show the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Heaven.

The scene was based on the dream of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar as interpreted by the prophet Daniel. The king saw a gigantic clay statue being destroyed by a stone that suddenly fell from the mountain. The stone that broke the statue represented the Savior Whose kingdom would replace the kingdoms of pagans. The mountain itself symbolized the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to another interpretation, the mountain symbolized the Church of the New Testament.

The icon belongs to the iconographic type of Hodegetria or Our Lady of the Way. It depicts the Virgin Mary enthroned with the Child. In Her hands, Mary holds the Mountain and Jacob’s Ladder. The Mountain blends with Mary’s clothing and seems to be part of Her flesh.

The Queen of Heaven and the New Testament are one and the same. Other items depicted on Mary’s breast and next to the throne include Her Old Testament prototypes: the Dew-Wet Fleece, the Beacon Light, the Unburnt Thornbush, and the Stone of the Uncut Mountain.

The Christ Child blesses His Mother with His right hand, using a two-fingered blessing. In His left hand, He holds a scroll with a prophecy. An angel with instruments of the Passion flies to the Child. Above, in the cloudy hemisphere, there is the Ancient of Days. The image of God, from Whose mouth the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descends upon the Virgin Mary, is intended to emphasize the purity of Mary, while the angel with the instruments of the Passion indicates the purpose of the Incarnation — the redemptive sufferings of Christ.

The icon painter depicted the Great Martyr Nikita the Warrior and the Martyr Eupraxia kneeling before the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These are the patron saints of Nikita Grigoryevich Stroganov and his wife Eupraxia Fyodorovna Stroganova.

The icon “Our Lady of the Uncut Mountain with Saints Nikita and Eupraxia Falling Down Before Her” was painted in the late 16th century. It was donated to the Solvychegodsk Annunciation Cathedral by Nikita Grigoryevich Stroganov.