0300s St John the Forerunner

Russian.
19th cent. 44.5×36.5×3 cms

The herald of Christ’s ministry, the icon shows  St John, surrounded by images of the four apostles, holding a discas and pointing to a figure of Christ as a child symbolising the  arrival of the Messiah. He also holds a scroll with his message to repent because of the imminence of the event. The icon is further decorated with five scenes of St John the Baptist’s life from his birth to his execution.

The heavy icon is written on a board of three planks with illegible scraffiti on the reverse. Two shponki are inserted in the top and bottom edges.