A Miracle of the Icon of the Virgin Hodegetria: Healing of the Emperor Justinian, 17th century
Egg tempera and gesso on wood.
We are grateful to David Coomler for providing us with this transliteration. His blog 'Icons and their Interpretation' is an invaluable resource.
The cure wrought by the Tikhvin icon of Ivan Kasim, son of Kasim Khan is one of the many miracles ascribed to the famous icon. The Kasim khanate was a vassal state of Muscovy in the 15th century fighting in the war against Kazan and the Tartars. They crowned Kasim the Khan of Kazan though Kazan was only finally defeated in 1552. In 1469, he was succeeded by his son Ivan. The story of the miracle may reflect Ivan the Terrible’s policy of Christianisation of the Muslim Tartars.
The person offering the icon may be Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow, with Ivan IV and his wife standing behind.
For a further account of the icon and its miracles see
http://www.thetemplegallery.com/getfullpage.php?stockno=1031
Provenance
1. Temple Gallery, Christmas 2009
2. Gunnar Teig-Olsen collection, Norway