Icon - Feast day icon - Wood

Resurrection of Christ – the “Descent into Hell” (Anástasis).

In the center appears Christ within a mandorla (ovular halo) descending into Hades.

Typical features seen in your icon:

- Christ wearing a light tunic and surrounded by glory.
- Under His feet are the gates of Hades broken, depicted as cross-planked boards.
- Christ takes Adam and Eve by the hand, drawing them out of the realm of the dead.
- Around Him appear prophets and righteous ones from the Old Testament (David, Solomon, John the Baptist, etc.).

This is the classic way the Orthodox Church portrays the Resurrection, not with Christ emerging from the tomb, but freeing humanity from Hades.

Scenes around the border

The edge contains small scenes from the life of Christ (in the hagiographic or festive iconographic style). By arrangement, you can distinguish scenes such as:

- Nativity of Christ
- Baptism in the Jordan
- Entry into Jerusalem
- Crucifixion
- Burial of Christ
- Apparitions after the Resurrection

The inscriptions are in ecclesiastical Slavonic (Old Cyrillic), typical of Russian icons.

School and probable period

By style:

- Aged gold background
- Slender faces
- Composition in registers with red borders
- Cyrillic writing

Probably a Russian icon.

Estimated region:

Russia

late 18th – 19th centuries

Technique

As with most traditional icons:

- Wooden panel
- Levkas (plaster and glue)
- Egg tempera
- Gilding

This type of icon is sometimes called:

“Resurrection with the Twelve Feasts”
(or Resurrection with scenes from the life of Christ).

It was very common in Russia for domestic devotion.