Ezekiel the Prophet is one of the Old Testament prophets, his life and prophecies are described in the Bible’s Book of Ezekiel. He prophesied “resurrection of the dead” and the end of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews in the 6th century BCE. Ezekiel was the first to describe the tetramorph, a mystical winged creature with the faces of the angel, ox, lion and eagle. These four creatures in the iconography became symbols associated with the four evangelists, where the angel is St. Matthew, the lion Mark, the ox Luke and the eagle John.

Ezekiel’s image was placed in the iconostasis where his was the mandatory icon in the prophet’s tier. This segment of the iconostasis depicted the prophets after Moses and before Jesus Christ. Above it was a tier with the first Biblical characters: Adam, Eve and Abraham. Icons below the prophets’ tier depicted the 12 feasts and scenes from the Gospel, included were the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, Presentation in the Temple of the Virgin Mary, Nativity of Christ, Baptism of Jesus and other major events of the New Testament. In the Russian Orthodox Church, these days are called the twelve great feasts. Iconostases also had a lower tier of icons of the locally venerated saints.

The Crucifixion used a simplified iconographic version, as in the more complete version there are two more crosses on either side of Jesus. Two convicted thieves crucified alongside the Saviour are referred to in the biblical texts as the Good (or Wise) Thief and the Bad (impenitent) Thief.

The Vologda artisans used a wood panel with a figured, keel-shaped top. The wood was covered with a linen cloth and several coats of chalk. The icon was painted with tempera, made from powdered pigments and raw egg yolk. The frame was painted with ochre, based on rust and clay, which, to get a lighter tone in the lower icon, had some white paint added to it.