The carved wooden icon “The Image of the Holy Cross”, also known as “The Calvary Cross”, was created in the late 19th or early 20th century. It originated from the village of Kushereki in the Onega Uyezd, Arkhangelsk Governorate.

Wooden artifacts with the Calvary Cross were common among the Old Believers in the Russian North and Northwest, including the Russian, Karelian, and Komi-Zyryan peoples. These carved crosses and icons were often used as memorial objects and were placed on tombstones. They could also be hung over the entrance to a prayer room, cell, or chapel, or over the porch of a house.

In some areas, carved wooden crosses and icons were part of the iconostasis, along with other prayer images. The décor of carved icons with the Calvary Cross continued the traditions of Orthodox wooden sculptures that existed before the Schism of the Russian Church. Similar elements of highlighting the centerpiece and framing are present in the iconography of memorial crosses in the Volkhov River region created in the 17th — early 18th centuries.

In the center of the icon’s composition is an eight-pointed Calvary Cross with instruments of passion. It is flanked with carved canonical inscriptions glorifying the feats of Christ and the spiritual power of the Holy Cross. These inscriptions were typical of Orthodox copper and wooden carved artifacts: “ЦРЬ СЛВЫ” (“King of Glory”), “IC XC” (“Jesus Christ”), “СНЪ БЖIЙ” (“Son of God”), “КТ” (“Lance, Reed”), “НИКА” (“Victory”), “МЛРБ” (“The Place of the Scull Became Paradise”). On Golgotha and on both sides, there are inscriptions “ГГ” (“Mount Golgotha”) and “ГА” (“Adam’s Head”). The background painting of this carved icon depicts the starry sky.

The entire pictorial composition on carved icons was usually enclosed in a rectangular profiled frame. The corners were marked with a floral pattern — a large bud on a cup. This element is also found on Russian pectoral crosses from the 17th–18th centuries. It was placed in the corners of the middle cross and symbolized the life-giving power of Christian teaching.

Often, the Calvary Cross was placed in a circle. In some icons, it can be seen under an arch or in a temple. On each of the domes, an eight-pointed cross was depicted. The circle represented the radiance emanating from the Calvary Cross, spreading to the entire universe. The temple represented the Church of Christ.