This icon is a good example of how the passage of time is shown in icons. Here, several different events from the life of John the Baptist, are shown in one frame. John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus and is one of the most important figures in Orthodoxy. Here, he is shown receiving inspiration from God, who reaches down to him from Heaven, indicated by a cloud. The icon is divided into two sections on each side. The right side shows the temporal human world where the story of John the Baptist unfolds. The left side depicts a scene of a promised Peaceable kingdom where predatory animals such as the lion co-exist peacefully with the Unicorn, the rabbit and the camel. In the lower left quadrant of the icon, John baptizes the faithful in the River Jordan. A line of people who want to be baptized comes from the castle at the top right, as members of the aristocracy watch from above. On the banks of the river at the bottom right, the newly baptized change into the white clothing that reflects their new status. Three figures under the central pink arch of the castle may be Herod, his wife, and his stepdaughter Salome, who was responsible for John the Baptist’s death by beheading.

This icon is from the Mstera School, a village know as one of the centers of icon painting, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mstera later became famous for its lacquer boxes, which, like this icon, show exceptional craftsmanship and attention to detail.

The depiction of the natural world is especially notable in this icon. Because iconographers were not familiar with the landscape of the Middle East, they instead depicted a Russian forest. The vegetation, river, and animals are all quite detailed, and seem to underscore John the Baptist’s history as a hermit who lived in the wilderness. This icon even depicts a unicorn, an allegory of Christ and a symbol of purity and chastity. Unicorns are rarely found in icons; this is the only example in our collection.