According to legend, the prototype of this icon was painted by St. Luke. There are two different stories regarding its entry to Russia. One story relates that the icon was brought by Great Prince Vladimir from Korsun (Kherson) on the Black Sea to Kiev in 988. An alternate story states that in 1173, it was presented by Emperor Manuel Commenus to Saint Evfronsina of Polotsk. St. Evfronsina installed the icon in the church of the Most Holy Mother of God at the cloister she had founded near Polotsk. In 1239, when Prince Alexander Nevskiy married the daughter of Prince Bryachislav of Polotsk, the young bride took the icon along with her for the wedding ceremony to the town of Toropets, where it remained until 1917. This shoulder-length Umilenie (Tenderness) image depicts the Mother of God and infant Christ in a “tender” cheek-to-cheek embrace. The entire image is overlaid with a spectacular, repoussé and chased gilded silver riza with enamel. The corners and halo are in beautiful multi-color shaded enamel. The title plaques are in multi-colored champleve enamel. Hallmarked Moscow, circa 1899-1908, and with the Cyrillic maker’s mark “S. Zh.” (probably Sergiy Ivanovich Zharkov), it is a large and impressive icon of the highest quality.
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