Moscow, March 12, 2026
Photo: theartnewspaper.ru
Three of Russia’s most venerated religious artifacts—the 12th-century Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the Donskoy Icon of the Mother of God painted by Theophanes the Greek in 1380, and the 14th-century Dmitrov Cross—may soon be transferred from the State Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Sources told The Art Newspaper Russia that the transfer could take place before Pascha, which this year falls on April 12.
The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is the earliest known surviving icon of its kind and the most revered in Russia, associated with the country’s deliverance from its enemies, including the end of the Tatar yoke. Following its final transfer to Moscow in 1480, it was kept in the Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin almost without interruption until 1918. Since 1999, it has been on display at the St. Nicholas Church-Museum in Tolmachi, affiliated with the Tretyakov Gallery. It’s now expected to be moved to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Photo: theartnewspaper.ru
The Donskoy Icon, which Church tradition connects with the Battle of Kulikovo, may be transferred to Donskoy Monastery in Moscow, where it was kept before the Soviet era and to which it is customarily loaned for feast days.
The fate of these two icons would mirror that of Andrei Rublev’s Holy Trinity, which was transferred from the Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Church in 2023.
Photo: theartnewspaper.ru
The third item reportedly being prepared for transfer is the wonderworking Dmitrov Cross, a painted crucifix from the Dormition Cathedral in the city of Dmitrov, north of Moscow, dating to the 14th century. It has been on display at the Tolmachi church since 2004, with services held before it on appropriate feast days. It’s unclear where it may be transferred to.
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