Russian icon of the 19th century

Russian icon of the 19th century.
"Christ Pantocrator".
Tempera on wood panel, gold leaf.
In gilt metal oklad with engravings
Mounted in a later in dark painted frame with glass door inside with carved wood and gilt ornaments.
With crackles and minor scratches due to age.
Measurements: 45 x 34 x 8 cm; 49 x 38 x 10,5 cm (frame).
Ancient icon "of Christ Pantocrator", representing Jesus of half body, in the frontal and hieratic face with expressive intensity. Christ in his left hand holds the open book of the Gospel, facing the congregation, and with his right hand, according to the Orthodox / Byzantine rite blessing with open palm and articulation of the thumb and ring finger. In this type of icon the ineffable reality of God made Man is expressed.
Icons cannot be compared with other works of art in the usual sense of this word. Icons are not paintings. Paintings, with their features and colors, speak of people and events of concrete reality. Icons, on the other hand, do not represent, but constitute in themselves another world. And they do so with special means of representation, developed over the centuries. In them, color plays a significant role, that of a symbolic language that must express not the color of things, but their luminosity, a light that comes from beyond the physical world. The golden spaces of the icons embody this non-terrestrial light, and the golden background symbolizes the space that is "not of this world". In the icons there are no shadows, because in the kingdom of God everything is filled with light. In them there is also no usual space, just as there are no conventional events. The icon is an open window to a world of another nature, but this window opens only for those who possess spiritual vision.