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Theotokos of Vladimir

Late 11th - early 12th century, Byzantium.

The earliest references to the icon are found in the oldest chronicles (entries for 1155). The first Story was compiled in Vladimir at Prince Andrei Bogolubsky's court in the 1160s. Prince Andrei took the icon with him when he acquired the throne of Vladimir and Suzdal. He ordered for the holy image a gold case, and placed it in the new Dormition Cathedral of Vladimir. Though some miracles of the icon were known in Kiev, the peak of its glory came in Vladimir. When Tamerlane's horde invaded Russia in 1395, the image was brought to Moscow for heavenly intercession to ward off the city's doom -- and miraculous deliverance did come. The Story was composed some years later, when the worship of the icon became even more dedicated. It came to Moscow for good in 1480. In the next century the icon became the palladium of Moscow and the most important among Russian holy relics. The icon is commemorated three times a year: August 26 (Moscow's deliverance from the Tartar siege of 1395), June 23 (final transfer of the icon to Moscow, and the bloodless victory over Tartars on the Ugra river, 1480), and May 21 (Moscow's deliverance from Khan Mahmet Ghirei in 1521). At these feasts there were the liturgical processions with the original icon or its copy.

Size 6" wide by 10" high

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