These ten double-sided icons are from a set of twelve, each of which represents a month of the year. Icons that serve as liturgical calendars are called minyeias. Each day of the year is represented by one or more saints or feasts commemorated by the Orthodox Church on that day. Minyeias were actively used by Orthodox believers to keep track of the feast days throughout the year. They are the visual equivalent of a written church calendar. Here, we see ten months, with the first half of the month on the front and the second half on the back. Unfortunately, January and March are missing from this set.

The small scale of this set indicates that it would have been used in a personal setting, with the appropriate section of the calendar displayed on a stand, and rotated about every two weeks. Note that the name of the month is affixed rather crudely to the top of each icon; this would have been a later addition.

This set of icons has a clear provenance, or ownership history, which is rare among icons. We know that a member of the politically and culturally influential Stroganov family commissioned these works, because each is inscribed at the bottom with the phrase “These are Dimitriy Andreevich Stroganov’s minyeias.” The Stroganov family was prominent in Russia from the 15th century to the Revolution, amassing wealth from salt- and ore mining. Various members of the aristocratic family were patrons of the arts, and their influence was such that the so-called Stroganoff school of icon painting developed in response to their tastes. Typically, Stroganov school icons are small in size, exquisitely detailed, and have a limited range of earth-toned colors.

These minyeias show the characteristic features of Stroganov school icons. Their detail is extraordinary, and the skill of the icon painter unparalleled. There are about 675 saints and scenes on the 10 existing icons in the set. Each figure is about an inch tall, yet his or her signature attributes are readily identifiable. The Museum has translated the inscriptions above each figure or scene, and has identified the vast majority of them, save for a few obscure saints that may have had local significance.

Among the 675 saints and scenes, a few are particularly notable:

The life story of Saint Mary of Egypt can be found at the top of side A of the April Minyeia. This comparatively large scene includes the meeting of Saint Mary with the monk Zosimas as well as the fabled moment when a lion helped dig a grave for her.

Saint Christopher of the Dogs Head, located on the third row of side A of the May Minyeia, was a 3rd century Christian who was said to have legendary strength and a disfigured face. There are several theories as to the origins of the dog head. One is a mistranslation of the Latin term cananeus (Canaanite) to canineus (canine).

The Seven Ecumenical Councils can be found throughout the set. These scenes each celebrate the various councils that determined church doctrine.