Skladen folding icons, which consist of two or more icons joined together, have been known in Russia since the 10th century. The design was borrowed from Byzantine craftsmen and shortly thereafter Russian craftsmen began to make them from wood or metal.
Depending on the number of folds, skladens are divided into diptychs (two), triptychs (three) and polyptychs (four or five). In terms of use, folding icons are divided into body (pectoral), framed (cased, for the icon corner), traveling and makeshift (for wandering and crusading). Initially, the flaps were fastened together by means of projections at the top and bottom on the side elements and rings for these projections on the middle one.
At the end of the 17th century, a large Old Believers’ settlement of Pomorian confession emerged on the river Vyg in Olonets Governorate. The Vygovsky foundry became widely known as early as the first half of the 18th century, where they produced a variety of folding icons of copper and copper alloys, as well as crosses and icons. Vygovsky foundry workers replaced projections with rings with more convenient rod hinges and developed their own style, which subsequently spread to other Old Believers’ workshops. In the second half of the 18th and 19th centuries, this style was developed by representatives of the Popovtsy trend in the Guslitsky region (villages of the Bogorodsky district in the Moscow and adjacent parts of the Vladimir Governorates) and among the Bespopovtsy (priestless) in Moscow.
Sometimes the iconography of folding icons was devoted to specific biblical subjects. Most often the middle panel depicted Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, while the side panels featured the saints.
The style and iconography of this triptych are typical of the Guslitsky Popovtsy. The middle panel features the scene “St. George’s Miracle of the Dragon”: St. George or Yegorius has long been worshipped as the patron saint of cattle and warriors’ protector. At the top of the central panel is an image of “Jesus Christ the King of Kings”. On the side panels, in pairs, are “Entry into Jerusalem”, “Candlemas”, “Harrowing of Hell” and “The Ascension of the Lord” with the tops on the theme of the Annunciation of the Mother of God.
A zigzag-filled border around the perimeter of each panel, and a border with parallel ribs inside the middle, are decorative features. The clear surface of the folds is filled with blue vitreous enamel.
When opened, the folding icon was usually kept in the icon corner along with other icons, and a candle was lit separately in front of each fold during prayer. When traveling, the believer could open any icon for prayer. During the separation of the family (separation of a married son, marriage of a daughter) the folding icon could be divided, so that one of the folds could be given to the new family.
