The iconography of the Venerable Alexander Oshevensky was formed by the end of the 16th century, almost a hundred years after the death of the saint. His images were especially widespread in the Russian North; they could be found in almost every church in the Kargopol region and Poonezhye (the valley of the Onega River). The inscriptions on his images often call the saint the Kargopol wonderworker. This popularity was owed, among other things, to the fact that the monk himself came from a peasant family and advocated for educational opportunities for agricultural laborers.

The history of creation of the first icon depicting the saint was described by Hieromonk Theodosius in the hagiographic text “The Miracle of the Appearance of the Venerable <Alexander Oshevensky> to Elder Timofey and the Painting of the Icon of St. Alexander”.

According to him, in the 1560s, at the invitation of Abbot (hegumen) Vassian, Kargopol icon painters Simeon Sokol and his son Ivan worked in the St. Nicholas Church of the Alexander Oshevensky Monastery. At the same time, the founder of the monastery himself appeared to the Elder, who “did not study books, but was spiritual and pious, ” and ordered him to inform the abbot about his wish: the saint wanted the icon painters to take a board lying on the shrine with his relics and paint his image on it.

By that time, no one at the monastery knew what the saint looked like; however, a certain “self-seer” Nikifor Filippovich came from the Onega and gave the masters a detailed verbal portrait of Alexander Oshevensky.

Gradually, several types of his iconographic images were developed. The most well-established of them is a composition depicting Alexander Oshevensky with an unfolded scroll in his left hand against the background of the monastery he founded, praying to the Savior (depicted in a cloud).

The presented icon comes from the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Volosovo, Kargopolsky Uyezd.

St. Alexander is depicted in a traditional iconographic style, typical for images of the venerable monks. The founder of the monastery is dressed in monastic attire, holds a scroll with a fragment from his hagiography in his left hand. His right hand is turned to the side in a blessing.

The saint’s clothes are painted in dark cherry and olive (brownish-green) colors. The cherry shade, as well as a combination of purples and blues, are interpreted in iconography as a symbol of the Mother of God, the unity of the heavenly and earthly. Shades of brown are used to paint the clothes of holy recluses and hermits; green is considered a symbol of Divine wisdom and the Holy Spirit.