On the fresco there is the fifth scene from the Protoevangelium (V) — The Nativity of the Virgin (Mary). The scene is presented in a detailed iconographic version, dating back to the Moscow iconography of the 15th–16th centuries. Righteous Anne is sitting on the high bed in front of the women with gifts. The young maid is carefully supporting the woman in labor for shoulders. The scene of bathing the baby Mary is placed at the feet of Anne. On the right side of the composition there is touching image of Maria’s caressing by her parents. Researches point the stylistic and compositional similarity of this fresco with the same icon from the iconostasis of the Virgin Nativity Cathedral of the Ferapontov convent. The Ferapontov’s icon is usually attributed to the works of Lubim (‘Beloved’) Ageev.

General Information:
Protoevangelium of James is early Christian apocrypha about the life of the Virgin Mary and the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Apocrypha became the basis for a comprehensive narrative cycle, traditionally included in the decoration system of the Virgin’s temples. In ancient Russian monumental painting of the 16th-17th centuries the Protoevangelium cycle is often adjacent to the cycle of the Akathist to the Virgin Mary.

The full name: The Nativity of the Virgin
Time of creation: 1641.
Technique: fresco, tempera.
Location: The Western lunette