The Resurrection and Descent into Hell with Feasts

With brilliant gold as a background and surrounded by an ornate border, various scenes from the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary are depicted on this beautiful icon. Twelve panels surround the central portion, representing the events honored by the major feast days of the church calendar, which shows Christ ascending into heaven surrounded by saints; with His baptism by St. John the Forerunner at lower right. A second Baptism is seen in the fifth panel, (clockwise from upper left), as is another Ascension scene below. The Dormition of the Virgin Mary is beneath the Ascension with Christ floating above his dying mother, enveloped in a red nimbus, as He is in other depictions of Him in the purely spiritual state. Other scenes include Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and the Nativity; joining together with the entire sequence of images to create a vivid impression of the life of Christ.