The name of the image Joy of All Sorrowing is the first line in one of the hymns in praise of the Virgin. The researchers deem that this storyline does not have a single canonic scheme of execution, it exists in a multitude of options. For instance, in early versions no seekers were painted around Our Lady; they appeared only after the icon was glorified having committed a miracle.
According to the legend, it happened in 1688. At that time thanks to the prayer before this icon in Moscow Church of Transfiguration the whole blood sister of Patriarch Joachim, Effie, was cured from severe illness. Afterwards the diseased started arriving to pray before the icon and the mourners sought consolation from all over Moscow and according to the legend Our Lady helped many of them.

The icon from the collection was created by unknown craftsman at the end of XVIII century in the city of Nevyansk – a large old believer’s iconographic center. The artist executed the image on a golden background and the faces were depicted very naturalistically. Such stylistics was characteristic of the works of craftsmen of the Armory Chamber.