Icon; 17th–18th centuries.

Icon; 17th–18th century.
“The Descent from the Cross and Lamentation at the Tomb.”
Painting on wood panel.
Measurements: 48 x 37 x 3 cm.
A narrative icon that brings together two fundamental episodes of the Passion of Christ in a single composition: the Descent from the Cross in the upper register, and the Lamentation over the Dead Christ and the Holy Burial in the lower register. Both scenes are identified by inscriptions in Church Slavonic Cyrillic.The upper section depicts the Descent from the Cross. Christ’s body is taken down from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, while the Virgin Mary approaches and takes her Son’s hand. Beside her stand the holy women and other disciples. In the background, the walls of Jerusalem can be seen beneath a sky featuring the sun and the moon, alluding to the cosmic dimension of Christ’s death. The lower register depicts the Lamentation and the Holy Burial. Christ lies on the funeral bier prepared for burial, surrounded by the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, the holy women, and the disciples. The Virgin’s gesture—bringing her face close to Christ’s—captures the drama of the scene and expresses her profound grief at her Son’s death.
The combination of these two scenes has a strong liturgical and devotional significance, as both form part of the Passion cycle that culminates in the celebration of Easter. In terms of its formal language and the arrangement of the figures, the work belongs to the Russian tradition of narrative icons from the 17th and 18th centuries, a period in which these Passion cycles achieved remarkable compositional richness.