Here we see a version of the story of the Crucifixion as told in the Gospels. According to tradition, at the centre of the composition, set against a background of the wall of Jerusalem, is the naked figure of Christ with a white robe around his thighs, crucified on a seven-point cross, standing on Golgotha, or the Hill of Calvary. In the depths of a black cave we can see the skull of Adam. To each side of the cross are two figures, to the left the Virgin and Mary Magdalene, to the right John the Evangelist and the centurion Longinus. Above are two flying, weeping angels.
The creation of the icon of the Crucifixion in a workshop in northern Russia, sometime in the second half of the 16th century, is confirmed by its composition, the balanced allocation of areas of colour and the style of execution.