Mary is represented as an intercessor with Jesus, depicted in a medallion – a symbol of the child she is expecting. The icon comes from Novgorod and was used in solemn processions. It is a variant of the miraculous icon of Mary that was thought to have saved the city from an attack in 1170. The image dates back to a famous Byzantine icon, which was kept in the Church of St. Mary of Blachernae in Constantinople.
[slut]

Description in Icons, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2004, cat. no. 75:
Processional icon with the Mother of God of the Sign (obverse) and
The Fiery Ascent of the Prophet Elijah to Heaven (reverse)
Middle to second half of 16th century, region of Novgorod
NMI 314

Wood: Poplar (Populus sp.), egg tempera
on canvas. Panel made of three
boards with the shaft being part of the
middle one.

Inscriptions at the bottom of both side
edges: Hand-written in yellow paint:
7104

PROVENANCE: Michele Lanza, Rome;
Sotheby’s, London 1971; New Grecian Gallery,
London 1972; Ilas Neufert, Munich
1974; Roozemond Collection, Kastel De
Wijenburgh, Echteld c. 1980; private collection,
Wuppertal; Art E+S Galleries, The
Hague 1988; private collection, Germany;
Sotheby’s, London 1990; Acquired by the
museum in 1990
EXHIBITIONS: Recklinghausen 1980, no 33;
Stockholm 1992
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sotheby’s 1971, lot 59; New
Grecian Gallery 1972, no 17; Gallerie Neufert
1974, no 10; Recklinghausen 1980, no
33; Sommer 1983, pp 262–263; Sotheby’s
1990, lot 367; Abel 1992:1; Stockholm 1992 ;
Abel 1993; Abel 1995, p 114; Moberg 1999, p
108
CONSERVATION: Restored prior to entering
NM: repainted probably in the 18th century;
restoration in the early 20th century,
overpaintings partly removed, the panel
disassembled, damage along joints and in
corners repaired with new wood, painting
on supplemented parts reconstructed,
inscriptions reconstructed in 15th century
style, retouches, artificial craquelure; NM
1992: technical examination, conservation
and uncovering; later repaintings removed
except for reconstructed painting along
joints (on both sides), some highlights on
rocks and decoration on shaft, losses of original
paint slightly retouched, varnished
(Y. Bobrov). Cracks along the mended
joints; pastose-painted sections abraded;
uneven remains of gilding on background
and borders; ground and paint layer losses
on the shaft.

The mantle of the Mother of God is
dark brown (banór, red + black) with
gilded edges round the head and
sleeves. The three stars on the cloak
are later. Her dress, like her headgear,
is pale greyish-blue in the surviving
original parts. The same colour occurs
in the medallion surrounding Christ.
Christ’s cloak is pale ochre/orange.
The gold rays are secondary. The faces
have a first layer of colour, which is
olive-green with added ochre (sankir).
In this case it is of a brown hue typical
of Novgorod painting in the middle
and end of the 16th century. The gild -
ing of the apparel of the Mother of
God and of the background is original,
while that of Christ’s medallion and
the edge of the frame is later. The red
colour on the outer edge of the frame is
also later, like the painting of the shaft.
The depiction on both sides employs a
limited palette of clear colours, with
mainly mineral pigments, typical of
Novgorod painting.
The depiction of the Mother of God
of the Sign is a somewhat simplified
version of the one to be found on the
original Novgorod palladium from the
12th century, formerly in the Novgorod
Historical Museum (inv. no 2175)
now in the Cathedral of St Sophia.
The resemblance also includes the format:
the Novgorod icon measures 58.5
x 52.5.1 Elijah, patron saint of peasants,
occupied a very central position in the
strongly agrarian Novgorod region.
The stylistic roots of this depiction
in the local Novgorod tradition are
re veal ed by comparison, for example,
with a late 15th century icon of this
motif, from the Likhachov Collection,
now in the Russian Museum in St
Petersburg.2 Typical Novgorod traits
in the Nationalmuseum icon are
details such as the shape of the fiery
halo, its undulating lower edge, which
follows the contour of the landscape
and the fallen mantle, which has been
given a strongly rhythmic form, reminiscent
of a half-wheel. On the left side
of the border, St Nicholas is shown
full-length, while St Vlasius, the protector
of livestock, and also strongly
rooted in Novgorod, is depicted on the
opposite side.3 These figures are the
best-preserved details of the original
painting.This icon is clearly rooted in
the tradition of the Novgorod region,
both iconographically and stylistically.
The icon was used as a processional
icon, positioned behind the altar
(zaprestolnaya ikona). It is hard to say
which church it used to belong to. If
we assume that the Mother of God of
the Sign stands for the general relation
to Novgorod, then Elijah would stand
for the individual church, i.e. a church
dedicated to Elijah. On the other hand,
as the patron saint of peasants, Elijah
occupied such a central position in this
region that other churches besides
those dedicated to him must also have
needed a special processional icon to
be used on his feast day, 20th July.4

1 Likhachov 1980, p 279; for the relation between
original and copies with regard to wonder-working
images of the Mother of God, see Bentchev
1991, pp 141–143.
2 Smirnova 1982, p 275; Thon 1992, p 30.
3 Concerning the importance of St Vlasius as
the protector of livestock in Russia and the need
for processional icons of him to protect livestock
from disease, see Athens 1994, p 223–224, text
by I. Shalina; for the relationship between the
names of Vlasius and Blasius, see Kjellin 1956,
p 288.
4 Abel, 1993
[slut]