Ancient Russian icon, Mother of God of Smolensk, 19th century, 13x11 in

Ancient Russian icon, Mother of God of Smolensk, 19th century, 12.6x10.9 inches. Ancient Russian icon painted in Vetka in the 19th century, made on a wood board with a canvas glued with levkas, covered in gold leaf and painted by hand with egg tempera.
The Smolensk icon of the Mother of God was first used to blessed the marriage of the Emperor Constantine's daughter, Anna, with the prince of Cernigov, Vsevolod, in 1046. Afterwards, the son born from the marriage brought the sacred icon to Smolensk, which gaves the icon its actual name.
The first miracle happened after the relocation of the icon, in 1237, when the citizens of Smolensk, after praying to the icon, were able to chase the Bath Khan out of the town after a hard battle. Then, in 1812, the icon helped the Russian army to face Napoleon's invasion.
The iconographic type is the Theotokos Hodegetria, "She who leads the Way", where the Virgin is depicted full-frontal with her head slightly leading towards her Child, while pointing at him with her right hand and holding him with the left. The Mother of God's gesture emphatises not only the fact that Jesus has to be worshiped as her Son, but also as the Right Way to follow.
The Child is depicted blessing the audiance with his right hand and holding a closed scroll with the left, symbol of God's Word which has not been disclosed yet.
The heads of the two subjects are not touching each other, another emblematic detail of this iconographic type.
On the top of the icon, stands the inscription "Mother of God" in greek, while two Saints looking at the centre of the scene are placed side by side to the main subjects.
The craquelure on the subjects' faces certifies the age of the painting, delivered with expertise and certificate of originality in an elegant velvet case.