Paired images in iconography are two icons made in the same style and united by some attribute. The unifying principle can be some connection between the saints, even those that lived at different times, their association with the same monastery, the similarity of their ministry or martyrdom, and spiritual or blood relation between them (as in the case of Alexander Oshevensky and St. Cyril of Beloozero, Peter and Fevronia of Murom, or the holy brothers Florus and Laurus).

The presented icon was part of a small iconostasis of the St. Nicholas Chapel in the village of Kiselevskaya, Lyadinsky Pogost, and was, apparently, commissioned to an icon painter.

Alexander Oshevensky and Antipas of Pergamon were chosen to be depicted in this paired icon as a consequence of a practical approach to the veneration of saints, rather than some ideological considerations: they both were especially loved in the folk, peasant environment.

Icons of St. Alexander, who himself came from a family of peasants, were kept in almost every church in the Kargopolsky district.

The Hieromartyr Antipas lived in the 1st century and was bishop of the city of Pergamon. Preaching Christianity and eradicating pagan customs, he aroused the wrath of the priests and was sentenced to a painful execution — burning inside a brazen bronze bull. The common people revered the saint as a protector against ailments, “even more so as a healer of severe dental diseases.” Faith in Antipas and his help was so great that people not only prayed in front of his icon, but also tried to “kiss” it with their aching teeth. Saint Antipas was especially revered in the rural locality of Bolshaya Shalga: in the Church of the Nativity of Christ, a chapel was consecrated in honor of the martyr of Pergamon and his image was kept there.

In the displayed image, the saints pray to the Savior, who blesses them with both hands, making the sign of the cross with two fingers. This type of blessing is associated with Old Believers, but in this case, it is a symbol of peasant conservatism.

The icon is painted very simply, without excessive detail and elaborative forms. At the same time, the master expressed deep respect for the saints by placing detailed and even ornate inscriptions over their heads.