[4] During the 12th century, the most prominent tier of the iconostasis, a screen of icons in front of the altar, was the Deesis (also known as "Supplication")[5] tier—an image of Christ with his mother surrounded by angels and saints.

The huge cheeks and a wide almond-shaped eyes of this icon resemble the frescoes in the Chapel of the Theotokos on the Patmos island in Greece.

Otherwise it is close to the style in the murals of the Saviour Church on Nereditsa Hill (1199) in Novgorod, where it is suggested that it was part of the Deesis tier.

According to Viktor Lazarev: you have to connect this icon to Byzantine influence exerted on the art of Novgorod in the 12th century.

It could be a work of the workshop of Olisey the Greek [fr; ru][7][8] The icon is similar to the Holy Face of Novgorod painted on the back of the Adoration of the Cross but which is attributed to "an unknown author" by the Tretyakov Museum.