The Transfiguration of Christ

This icon depicts the Gospel story of the Transfiguration in which Christ, in the presence of the apostles Peter, John and James, revealed his divine nature on Mount Tabor, becoming radiant and appearing before the prophets Moses and Elijah.

The three apostles are kneeling with praying hands at the feet of Christ who shines in the centre, surrounded by golden rays and joined by Elijah, on the left, and Moses, on the right, with the tablets of the law. The inscription “ПРЕОБРАЖЕНИЕ Г(О)С(ПО)ДНЕ” (The Transfiguration of the Lord) runs along the upper edge of the icon.

From a stylistic point of view, the icon is part of a large group of small, modestly made works in the Uffizi's collection of icons dated to the second quarter of the 18th century that show a general tendency toward simplified images. The figures of the apostles Peter and James are almost identical in pose, a sign of a tendency to use a reduced, well-established repertoire, characteristic of artisan-level icons.