Ancient Quadripartite icon Russia mid 19th century

Ancient Quadripartite icon Russia mid 19th century.Ancient icon from Northern Russia dating back to the mid-19th century, painted on a treated wooden board measuring 53x44.5 cm. This religious icon is quadripartite, in fact it contains four subjects referring to the Byzantine iconographic tradition. These are Our Lady of Smolensk, the Burning Bush, St. George and the Dragon and Our Lady of the Sign.The Smolensk Madonna belongs to the iconographic type of Odighitria. The Virgin is represented frontally, her face slightly inclined towards the Child. The dress is open on the front and reveals the chiton. The Mother of God holds her Son in her left arm, while with her right hand she points to him inviting him to venerate him. The Smolensk Madonna is a miraculous icon, brought to Constantinople from Jerusalem in 1046 and later placed in Smolensk in the 12th century by the prince of Cernigov. This icon protected the Russian army numerous times, guaranteeing victory in times of difficulty.The Mother of God of the Burning Bush is an icon linked to a Christological and Marian reading of the miracle witnessed by Moses in the Old Testament. The burning bush becomes in fact a metaphor and prophecy of the virginal conception of Christ made man. The bush is Mary, tied to the earth but struck by the flames of light and divine grace which are not consumed and which, although unsustainable, do not annihilate it, but leave it intact.The icon of St. George and the Dragon is taken from a legend, born after the martyrdom of the Saint, of a city threatened by a horrible monster who lived in a nearby pond. To appease his hunger, the inhabitants of the city began to offer him sheep as a sacrifice, but they soon ran out. The sheep were then accompanied by young people drawn at random from among the inhabitants of the city, until bad luck happened to the King's daughter. While she was on her way to her tragic fate she met St. George on horseback, who offered to defeat the monster in exchange the conversion of citizens into Christian faithful. Saint George who heroically stabs the dragon is a symbol of the victory of life over death and good over the evil one.The Madonna of the Sign is an icon that sees the Virgin in a prayerful attitude, with her hands raised to the sky. The Child is suspended in her womb, almost immaterial. This image is called 'of the Sign' as it illustrates Isaiah's prophecy, 'The Lord Himself will give you a sign. A Virgin will conceive a Son and his name will be Emanuel'.This beautiful Quadripartite icon is shipped with an export document and a report from a Russian Cultural Heritage expert.