About 1497.

Copy

The Virgin and Joseph holding the doves in his hands are depicted on the left. Simeon the Righteous (or Simeon the God-Receiver) with the Child Jesus in his hands and Anna the Prophetess holding a scroll are shown on the right. In the background in the centre there is a sanctuary throne under the ciborium.

The subject is based on the episode from the Gospel of Luke: 40 days after Christ’s birth, his parents Joseph and Mary brought him to the Temple of Jerusalem in keeping with the ancient Jewish law to dedicate their first-born to God. They were met by Simeon the Righteous to whom it had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he should not die before he had seen the Saviour. Anna the Prophetess was also there during the meeting. She lived in the Temple of Jerusalem for many years. Simeon and Anna glorified the Lord and prophesied the Saviour’s fate.

This feast marks the meeting of the Old and the New Testaments.

The icon was restored by G.Z. Bykova in the All-Union Research Institute for Restoration in 1969-1970.