“Shine, Shine Jerusalem, your light will come, and the day and night (they) are not closed.”

Isaiah, Chapter 60, verses I, II

Download the annotation of the scenes here.

Click here to download a larger image of the icon.

This Russian icon is an 18th century map of Holy City of Jerusalem written in the traditional method of egg tempera on wood and was generously donated to the Classical Iconography Institute from the private collection of Dr. Thomas and Darlene Dunham.  We are gratified to add this rare depiction of the Holy City of Jerusalem to the Institute’s collection of fine, historic icons which we display for the faithful to contemplate.

This icon genre called “Proskynetaria” is a revered souvenir from the Holy Land produced in the early 18th century for pilgrims.  It was painted with egg tempera and natural earth pigments on a wood panel specifically for the Russian faithful as it is inscribed in Church Slavonic. It is both hagiographic and geographic, meaning it tells the stories of saints and sacred events from both Old and New Testaments on the sites of their geographic location in and around Jerusalem. The meaning of some events are lost to antiquity; however, scholars in Jerusalem are analyzing scenes in this icon that are not in white boxes to try decode their meaning.

Make your own pilgrimage to the ancient city of  Holy Jerusalem as an 18th century pilgrim would have seen it, by viewing and contemplating this exquisite icon in person at St. Mary’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland, Oregon.