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

Russian icon from the Old Believers' Workshops, 19th century.
"Resurrection of Christ, Christ's Descent into Hell, and His Life in 16 hagiographic scenes".
Tempera on panel.
The icon has losses of the pictorial layer.
Measurements: 35 x 30,5 cm.

Christ's descent to hell is one of the most important representations in Christian iconography. This passage was known in Ancient Rus since the 11th century, although it gained maximum popularity in the second half of the 14th 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 a golden mandorla is surrounded by various saints, apostles, and Old Testament characters, such as Adam, who is recognized as a bearded man holding Christ's hand.
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 with an inscription located on the border of the icon, where in turn, in the corners of it, are the four evangelists. The composition of the icon closes with a curious representation of the Trinity of the New Testament, located in the upper central register. This type of representation has different versions, in the case of the auctioned lot, it is presented in the form of the Father, the God, the Son and the dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. This type of representation is typical of the painters of the workshops of the Old Believers. Other features, which indicate the icon's belonging to this particular orthodox group, are the inscriptions on the outer border of the icon, the blessing with two fingers, the eight-pointed crosses, and the name of Christ written as "ICXC", this being the abbreviation of his name in Greek.