The Birth of the Virgin

Icons are painted on wooden panels. Their thickness and size varies from district to district and age to age. Dimensions also depend on purpose for which the icon was intended. The majority of icons were designed to occupy specific, permanent positions in church. Some very large ones were carried in processions and others used in houses; it was customary to hang one above each bed. The reverse of this icon is inscribed in Russian: This icon is the gift of St. Nicholas Church, Reval, to the widow of Stephanoff. A date of c.1880 has been suggested.