SPECIAL ORDER ITEM. PLEASE ALLOW 2-3 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY. NOTE: Special Order Items are not returnable unless damaged.This modern beautiful silver-plated icon of Kazan Virgin is hand-painted on a wood base with a silver-plated cover with incredible ornate gold and silver accents. The entire icon is overlaid with a beautifully finished highly detailed repousse (high relief) gold and silver-plated metallic cover (also known as a riza) with an attached 24-carat gold-plated halo. The riza uses a scrolled floral pattern to accent the subjects and covers the less important areas of the icon. Velvet backing.The Kazan image of All-holy Our Lady is the most revered and honored of all icons in Russia. One may find its image in every orthodox temple. Experts say the original image of Our Lady of Kazan originates in the 13th century. The icon a painting on wood is said to have originally come from Constantinople. In 1209 the Tartars besieged the city and made it the residence of the Khan. During this period there is no mention to be found about the icon. It is not until after the liberation of Kazan that the icon is again found mentioned on historical records. In 1579 a nine-year-old girl by the name of Matrona whose parents' house burned down during the 1579 fire in Kazan saw in a dream the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and heard a voice commanding her to retrieve a holy Icon hidden in the ashes of the burned house. The holy Icon was discovered wrapped in an old cloth under the stove where it was buried most likely during the rule of the Tartars when Christians were forced to conceal their faith. The holy Icon was triumphantly transported to the nearest church the Church of St. Nicholas and later to the Cathedral of the Annunciation where it received renown for curing the blind. A copy was made of the Icon and sent to the tsar Ivan the Terrible. In honor of its arrival a special feast day was established on the 21st of July.
