Virgin of the Sign (Orans) (Znamenie) with Christ Emmanuel in front and her arms raised in the old form of prayer, and in the borders the full-length figures of Ss. George and James and the desert ascetics Makarios and Onouphrios. (The icon repeats exactly on a smaller scale the protective Palladium Novgorod, which dates back to the 12th century.Many of these prototypes were permitted in the 16th century particularly in the workshops of Makarii, the Metropolitan of Moscow from 1524-1564, who before that had been Archbishop of Novgorod from 1528-1542 and Makarii himself was an icon painter. PROVENANCE: From the collection of MR. R. Zeiner-Henriksen, Commercial Advisor at the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow in the early Twenties and he brought back with him an interesting collection of Russian icons.The collection was exhibited for the first time in Lund in Sweden in 1927. Russian icon, Moscow School, 16th century, (33 x 28 cm).