Russian icon from the Old Believers' Workshop, 19th century.

Russian icon from the Old Believers' Workshop, 19th century.
"Resurrection of Christ, Christ's Descent into Hell, and His Life in 16 hagiographic scene".
Tempera on panel.
Measurements: 43 x 36 cm.

Descent of Christ to hell is one of the most important representations in Christian iconography. This passage was known in Ancient Rus since the XI century, although it obtained maximum popularity in the second half of the XIV century. Iconography of this New Testament passage finally developed in the 17th century in Moscow workshops. In this period, the icon reached its maximum complexity, combining the passages of the New and Old Testament, and in turn, composing in one the scenes of the resurrection and the descent of Christ to hell.
The icon of interest, attracts the viewer's attention in a spiral, concentrating maximum attention on the central register, where, through a complex and dynamic composition, the resurrection and the descent into hell are narrated simultaneously. In both cases the figure of Christ with golden mandorla, is surrounded by various saints, apostles, and Old Testament characters such as Adam, who is recognized as a bearded man holding the hand of Christ.
In turn, this scene is surrounded by a frame of 16 hagiographic scenes, which tell different passages of the New Testament, mostly of Marian content, although there are some scenes that tell the life of Christ. Each scene is accompanied by an inscription located in the border of the icon, where in turn, in the corners of it, are the four evangelists.
The visual characteristics of the icon, help to deduce its chronological period, as the end of the XVII century. At the same time it contains several features typical of medieval Russian iconography, which, in sum, may indicate that this icon belongs to the workshops of the Old Believers. Among them, the eight-pointed crosses, the blessing with two fingers, and, most importantly, the inscriptions on the border.
The Old Believers were a group of the Orthodox, who after Nikon's church reforms of 1654, decided to follow their opponent Avvakum, defending the traditional foundations of the Orthodox Church. Fleeing persecution, they settled in the villages of Pomorie, near the Urals and in Siberia, although by the XVIII century they began to settle in the northern areas and near Moscow. The Faith of the Old Believers was legalized in 1905 only, boosting the interest within the Russian Empire for the discovery of the national religious heritage, as well as developing the collecting of ancient icons, never experienced until then.