Icon - Cosmas and Damian - Wood

An antique Russian icon painted in tempera on a wooden panel with a central hollow (kovcheg), depicting the Saints Cosmas and Damian (Anargyroi), traditionally invoked as protectors of the sick and of physicians.

The two saintly brothers are depicted standing, dressed in traditional garments and draped mantles, bearing the symbols of their medical and charitable work (including the central box of ointments/medicines). In the upper part, among the clouds, appears the benedictory figure of Christ. The composition features an oxidized silvered/gold background and explanatory inscriptions in Slavonic ecclesiastical Cyrillic characters. An authentic work of Russian Orthodox devotion, dating to the 19th century.