Inseparable from the liturgical tradition, religious art is seen by Orthodox Christians as a form of pictorial confession of faith and a channel of religious experience. Because the icons provide a direct personal contact with the holy persons represented on them, these images should be objects of veneration, in either a public or private setting, and were even believed to have the ability to heal.

Here, we see the Virgin Mary with the Christ child. Both their faces have grown dark due to the aging of the linseed oil varnish used to protect the paint beneath. The scale of the two figures is fantastic as the Virgin dominates the composition. The linear style of the robes is derived from Byzantine icon, typical of Russian Orthodox paintings. Both figures are crowned by thin gold halos. This work, like many icons, seeks to combine the familiar and the divine into one. This is both mother and child, and Mary and Christ. They are both human, like us; yet holy, worthy of our adoration and veneration.