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11-Russian Icon
Umilenie Mother of God
Circa 1700
Egg tempera, silver, gesso on wood panel, 12.25" x 10.25"
James and Tatiana Jackson Collection


ere the Mother of God and infant Christ are depicted in a tender (Russian - Umilenie) cheek-to-cheek embrace. The gown of Christ is finely decorated in Chrysography, and the Virgin’s maphorion and chiton with white highlighting. The lower margin is partially inscribed: “Tenderness Image of the Most Holy Mother of God by the Master _____ of Moscow…”

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12-Russian Icon
The Chernigovskaya Mother of God
Circa 1749
Egg tempera, gold leaf on wood panel, 12.75" x 10.5"
James and Tatiana Jackson Collection


here are four miracle-working icons which share the name “Chernigov.” This example would appear to be the “Ilinskaya Chernigovskaya” variant. The prototype for this icon was painted in 1658 by the monk Gennadiy Konstantinovich and was kept in the Ilinskiy-Chernigovskiy Monastery on Mount Boldino near Chernigov. From the 16th to the 24th of April 1662, while Lazar Baranovich was Archbishop of Chernigov and Zosima was Abbot of the Ilinsk monastery, tears poured forth from the icon. Almost all of the residents of Chernigov bore witness to this miracle. Soon afterwards in that same year, the Tatars attacked Chernigov and devastated all of the surrounding villages. However, the monks of the Ilinsk monastery knew nothing of the imminent danger. In the night, they received the news. After rushing to the church, and earnestly, tearfully praying to their Heavenly Intercessor, they hid in the Anthony cave. At midnight, the Tatars broke into the monastery, looted the church, and seized the church plate, but the miraculous icon with all of its precious decorations remained untouched. An unseen power did not permit the barbarians to touch the Holy Icon. That same unseen force kept them from entering the cave where the monks were hiding, although the Tatars strove many times to do so, approaching with lighted torches and bared swords. Suddenly, terrified by an incomprehensible vision, they fled. Depicted on the lower left border is the Guardian Angel. On the lower right border, the Venerable Paraskeva. The entire image is overlaid with a heavily repousséd and chased silver-gilt riza. The riza is hallmarked Moscow and dated 1749.