This icon depicts the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel wears the clothing of an attendant at the Byzantine court: a tunic with a mantle over it and a ribbon in his hair. The icon originates from Karelia, a region in the Russian North where icon painting developed under the influence of Novgorod. The powerful contours and distinctive palette of ochre, orange-red and black give this icon a sober and expressive character. The large, narrow panel originally formed part of an iconostasis, the wall separating the sanctuary from the rest of the church.