Blessed Be the Host of the King of Heaven

The icon shows Ivan the Terrible as he follows the Archangel Michael in leading the triumphant Russian troops away from the conquered city in flames (symbolising both Kazan and Sodom).

In the top left corner of the icon the Mother of God with the infant Jesus is shown seated outside the heavenly gate of Jerusalem (symbolising the city of Moscow) and distributing crowns to messenger angels who proceed to reward the martyrs of Ivan's army.

This interpretation is based on The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir, an early 16th-century treatise highlighting Ivan's illustrious and ancient pedigree.

The icon was displayed next to the royal seat in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (the main church of the Tsardom of Russia).

A smaller 16th-century copy, formerly set on the tomb of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in the Chudov Monastery, has been preserved in the Moscow Kremlin museum.