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Painted in the second half of the 13th or early 14th century, this icon formed part of a Deesis Row - the main part of an iconostasis , expressing the idea of intercession by the saints for mankind before Christ the judge .
In this old style Deesis Row, the figures do not turn towards the central composition which would have showed Christ himself, but look out frontally into the body of the church. The icon was the work of a northern Russian master. Before it entered the Hermitage it was in the wooden Church of Elijah in Vyazentsy on the River Onega. Other icons from the same iconostasis include Christ Pantocrator, St Peter and Elijah, also now in the Hermitage.