This is a leaf of one of the portable diptychs or triptychs which are
much used in the Greek Church. In the upper part, which is of a pointed
shape peculiar to the east, is represented the Assumption of the Virgin;
the Virgin is seated in the centre surrounded by patriarchs, prophets,
priests and Kings. Among the former Jacob may be distinguished by his
ladder. All these figures have the nimbus, which is not confined to
saints in the iconography of the Greek Church, but is also attributed
to patriarchs and others. In each of the four lower compartments, the
Virgin and child appear within a square frame receiving salutations of
bishops, priests, hermits, and saints. In the fourth are the Virgin and
child also, but represented under the form of the mystical conception.
Various inscriptions of the names of the characters &c. appear on the
borders, and on the labels in the hands of the figures. Above the head of
the Virgin are the monograms M θού, IC XC, (Μητηρ Θεου, Ιηδους Χριδτος.)
The strictness of the rules which were laid down in former times for
the representation of sacred subjects in Greek art renders it difficult
to assign any date to objects of this kind. Each artist has followed so
closely the tradition of his predecessors that little variation is to be
found in works of periods considerably distant. The relic in question may
be either of the Greek or the Russo-Greek schools, and if of the latter
it was probably made at Kiev in Russia where the manufactory of similar
objects is still carried on.