The icon is dedicated to the Feast of the Ascension of Christ, which occurs on the fortieth day after Easter. The feast, on one hand, commemorates a specific Gospel event — the bodily transition of the Savior from earth to Heaven forty days after His Resurrection. On the other hand, the Church emphasizes a very important aspect of Christian doctrine on this day: by His ascension into heavenly glory, the Lord not only returned to the Father but also restored to human nature its former greatness. This is the greatness that it possessed before the Fall and is called to possess within the framework of God’s plan for the world.

The temple icon of the Ascension of the Lord was brought by enthusiasts, friends of the museum, who saved the images from destruction. In 1976, young engineers, while traveling around the area, found temple icons discarded in a garbage heap. Realizing that the holy icons needed to be saved, the institute staff brought the find to the museum. The museum workers hid the icons in storage, as during those years, studying the history of the region and promoting it was prohibited due to Sarov’s status as a secret city.

The public first saw the icons in the museum in the 1990s when a large exhibition dedicated to the history of the Sarov Monastery was opened.

In the icon, Christ is ascending, depicted in the glory and triumph with which He will come to judge the universe. He is shown hovering on a cloud of glory, wearing a bright robe and a blue himation. Both hands are raised in blessing. The image of Christ is like the sun — the Sun of Truth, soaring above the earth. He is God, the Son of God, the Judge of the universe, its Creator and Sustainer. To the right of the Savior, there is the Mother of God, who has always been regarded as the most important among people, the second most significant figure on the planet after Christ. She embodies all those who have lived before and those who currently live as members of the Church. The Virgin Mary is the intercessor for all of Christendom. Behind her, angels, representing the heavenly powers, bow before the Lord. To the left of the Savior are the apostles, who witnessed the Lord’s ascension into heavenly glory. Apostles Peter and Paul represent the two sides of the Church’s existence — law and grace.

On one hand, the fallen human nature needs restraint, constant control, and correction, for which God has given people commandments and statutes. However, on the other hand, humanity is called to freedom and love, and the human nature healed in Christ knows no conventions, as it is directed towards God sincerely, wholly, and unwaveringly.